Quake
by LoveShinobi-Angelv
Summary: The sequel to Typhoon. Gaara and Sakura have a family now and everything is going great, until a disastrous Quake threatens to destroy the foundation of their lives. Note: Contains OCs
1. Konoha

**Quake**

_Chapter One_

-Konoha-

_**Nine Years Later…**_

"Natsumi! Satomi! Stop running off!" an angry redhead yelled, watching his two seven year old girls run off into the forest. Gaara stopped, along with the two Suna shinobi that were assigned to protect the children, looking to the break in the trees where the girls had disappeared. A younger redhead stopped beside the Kazekage, almost a mirror image of him.

"Dad, I told you we shouldn't have brought them. All they're going to do is cause trouble." He said simply. He was only nine years old, but he was already so much like his father.

"Toshiro," Sakura scolded, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "I told _you_ that we were not leaving your sisters in Suna with your psychotic aunt and uncle." She gave him a hard poke to the head. He grumbled aloud, rubbing the spot. His eyes were almost exactly the color of Gaara's, only a bit darker, thanks to his mother.

"So what about Uncle Kiba and Aunt Ino?" he said defiantly.

Gaara laughed, "Yeah right, like I was gonna let Kiba watch my two angels." The two pink haired girls ran back out from the forest, stopping in front of their mother. They stared up at her with pale green eyes, and laughed identically.

"Alright Mommy!" they said together. "Which one is Satomi and which one is Natsumi?"

"It doesn't matter which one is which because we are all going to continue to Konoha. We are already late, and you know how Mommy gets when she's late." She said, grabbing a hold of both girls' hands as she resumed walking.

"But Mommy!" they cried together, trying to resist their mother's grasp. Of course it was nothing short of failure. "_Daddy_ always gets it right!" they said in unison.

Toshiro rolled his eyes. This was something his little sisters always did, because his mother was the only one of the family that couldn't tell them apart. He didn't tell her it was because his father and he could sense the sand around Natsumi. Unlike him, his sisters only received one of their parent's abilities. Satomi, the eldest twin, seemed to attain unnatural strength. While Natsumi, younger by only two minutes, was gifted with the ability to control sand. Their powers were _the_ only difference between them. Aside from the very sparse times when Satomi showed their father's traits and Natsumi acted more like their mother.

"Well Mommy _isn't_ Daddy." Sakura said, annoyed now. "Now if you two don't knock it off, you won't get to do anything fun when we reach the village, because we won't have enough time. Mommy hasn't been there in years, and would like to get there as soon as possible. You want to meet Uncle Naruto and Aunt Hinata right?" She asked, knowing that the kids were eager to meet their parent's other childhood friends. "Besides," she continued, "Naruto and Hinata have a daughter that's your age. Don't you want to meet her?"

"A new friend?!" Natsumi exclaimed, twirling around at the thought. "Yes, yes, yes!"

Satomi watched her sister dance and huffed, "She's not going to be like a weirdo is she? If she's anything like what I've heard about Uncle Naruto, she's just going to be annoying."

Gaara sighed. This had been an extremely long trip. He wanted to get to Konoha quickly as well, no matter how dreadful the place was. "Hurry up girls," Gaara called behind him. They ran forward, twirling around. Finally they stopped and took a place in front of their father, walking backward.

"We'll hurry up." One said, a beautiful smile on her face.

"If you can tell us who's who." The other continued, matching her sister's smile exactly.

Gaara stopped once more and let out a deep sigh. He pointed to the one on his left, "Natsumi." And then he pointed to his right. "Satomi." Their jaws dropped, an adorable pout on their faces, since once again, their father had told them apart. They continued on silently after that, one on either side of their older brother.

It wasn't long until the family and their two escorts reached the gates of Konoha. There was a man waiting for them with the two guards that were always there. His silver hair spiked in its usual manner, and his face was covered by a tight mask, his forehead protector hanging over his left eye.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled, running forward in a child-like manner and gripping her old teacher in a fierce hug. He returned the embrace. Then he pulled apart and glared at Gaara, who glared right back.

Suddenly the small people at his feet caught his attention. He looked to the boy, who was giving him a blank stare. "Ah, I see you take after your father." He said, talking to the mini-Gaara.

Toshiro stared at the man. So this was the person who was his mother's teacher when she was young and lived in Konoha. Only one thing came to mind. _What a weirdo_. "Yeah…" he answered, "My mom says I look just like him, and even my aunt says I look like he did when he was little. I got his sand abilities as well as my Mother's strength." He told the man, assuming that this teacher would love the son of his student.

"How unfortunate for you." He said, looking up at Gaara. "I still don't like you, or your son." Then he looked at the two pink haired girls. "But these two. These two are just adorable!" he said, holding his arms out to the girls. They ran into his embrace, immediately liking anyone who complimented them and not their brother.

"Daddy, we love Kakashi-sensei! He's not mean like you said he was at all!" Natsumi cried, hugging the silver haired jounin.

"Can he teach us like he did Mommy?" Satomi asked, both girls instantly giving their father puppy dog eyes.

"No."

Their eyes watered, and their lips puckered out. "Please Daddy!" they begged.

"I said no." he repeated, stepping towards Kakashi and plucking his twins from the silver haired man's arms. One in each of his now, he looked down at Toshiro and then glared back at Kakashi, "If he asks you if you want to go on a scavenger hunt, do _not_ go."

Toshiro simply nodded, following his father as he walked through the gates of Konoha.

Sakura rolled her eyes. How typical. They walked to the Hokage Tower, and made their way up to the Hokage's office. Expecting to see her old master there, she was surprised when a different blonde was sitting in the chair.

"Naruto?" she asked, slightly confused.

Said blonde looked up from what he was doing. Seeing two of his best friends, he got out of the chair and ran over to them. "Sakura-chan!" he yelled, picking up the pink haired woman and swinging her around in a fierce hug.

When he broke away from the hug he held her at arm's length. Giving her a once over, he said, "You changed your outfit! I like it, it makes you look cooler!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Thanks Naruto! But it's not really that different." She said, looking down at her clothes. Her shirt was tighter, and it had the Haruno symbol on the front instead of the back. Her skirt was a bit shorter in the front and longer in the back, and her arm bands went all the way down her arms, connecting to her gloves, so that she wouldn't have to take them on and off anymore.

Shrugging nonchalantly at her declaration, he turned to his stoic friend, arms wide open. "Come here buddy, you know you want to." He said with a goofy grin, gesturing for Gaara to hug him.

"No." was all he redhead said, glaring at his friend.

Naruto let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, I'll do it your way." He said holding out his hand to shake. When Gaara grasped the blonde's hand with his, he was suddenly jerked forward. Naruto wrapped an arm around Gaara, holding him in place with their clasped hands. "I missed you so much man! Seven years is just too long!"

The kids looked at their squirming father, shock and horror on their faces. Nobody but mommy was allowed to touch their dad. Nobody. "Mommy! The crazy man is hurting daddy!" Natsumi yelled, pointing at Naruto.

"Unwanted physical contact!" Satomi also yelled, mimicking her sister's actions. But then she ran for them, grabbing the blonde man's wrist and trying to release her father.

"What a freak." Toshiro said, earning him a smack on the back of his head from his mom.

In her effort to free her father, Satomi accidentally used too much strength. Hearing a snapping noise, she stopped pulling, Naruto stopped swinging Gaara around, and Gaara stopped struggling.

Letting go of the redhead, Naruto brought his wrist out of the shocked girl's grasp. Suddenly he screamed. "What the heck have you taught your children Gaara?! You're poisoning their young minds with your violent tendencies!" he yelled, shaking his broken wrist for emphasis.

"What?!" he yelled back at his agonized friend. "If anyone is violent here it's Sakura. Context clues moron…who's the one who gave her the strength."

"Don't blame it all on Sakura-chan! If you had just kept it in your pants, none of this would have ever happened!" Naruto yelled at his friend.

Before anything more could be said in front of the children, Sakura grabbed Naruto by the ear and yanked. "Naruto, there are children present." She said, glaring at him.

"Y-yes Sakura-chan." Holding up his injured wrist, he gave her a pleading look. "Will you fix this for me?"

She sighed, placing her hand on his wrist, and in two seconds flat it was fine. Shaking it in order to test it out, the blonde smiled. "Alright! Good as new!" It was then that he noticed the small redhead standing slightly behind Sakura. Leaning around her and looking at Toshiro, he asked, "And who might this strapping young man be?"

"This is Toshiro." Sakura said, placing a hand on her son's head. "And this is Natsumi, and Satomi." She continued, pointing to each twin as she said their name.

One of the girls shook her pink locks negatively. "Nuh uh Mommy, I'm Satomi."

"And I'm Natsumi." The other one said.

"Whatever, you two switch names so often I don't see why it matters." Sakura said, crossing her arms in a pout.

"Actually, you did get their names wrong Sweetheart." Gaara said, smirking at her.

"Who's side are you on anyways?!" she asked angrily. Then she turned back towards the desk, where Hinata had been standing silently watching the whole interaction. "Hey Hinata! How have you been doing?" she asked, instantly becoming happy.

"I've been well, thank you Sakura. And you?" the ebony haired woman asked politely.

Sakura shrugged. "As good as any pregnant mother with three kids I guess."

"Wait! You're knocked up again?! But, you already have so many kids!" Naruto exclaimed, slapping his forehead with his hand.

"What can I say? Gaara just can't keep his hands off me." The pink haired woman said with a cocky grin.

Gaara's gaze fixated on his wife, "Excuse me? Whatever, you're like a rapist."

She crossed her arms and raised a delicate brow. "It's not rape if you like it."

He opened his mouth to object, but then shut it. She had a point. "MOMMY!" Natsumi yelled, tugging on her mother's skirt. "Where's my new friend? I want to meet her!"

Sakura turned to Hinata. Before she could ask, Hinata walked forward and stopped next to her husband. Then, something small with ebony hair peeked around her mother's legs. Meeting the impassive dark jade eyes of Toshiro, she let out a small squeak, and ducked back behind her mother's legs once more.

Satomi and Natsumi leaned forward, trying to see the hiding girl. They ran forward and stopped on either side of Hinata, peeking around the beautiful Hyuuga's legs. "Hello!" they smiled together, their tone matching perfectly.

The young girl turned around quickly, placing her back against her mother's legs. She looked between the two girls, somewhat terrified. "H-hello." She said softly.

Hinata moved then, revealing a miniature version of herself, only with her short hair in a ponytail on the left side of her head, and her father's cerulean eyes. Naruto looked down at his daughter tenderly. "Everyone, this is my daughter, Minako." He said proudly.

"She's very beautiful," Gaara complimented the two. He let his gaze focus on the small girl, who seemed so afraid of his devious twins. The pink haired girls each grabbed one of Minako's hands and pulled her forward.

"Hi Minako!" they both said in unison.

Minako stared at them with wide eyes. They looked exactly the same. Both their hair was short, barely touching their shoulders, and they wore the same dress. A lighter pink than their hair, it cut straight across and had thick dark pink straps. "I'm Natsumi." The one on the right said happily. "I can control sand just like my daddy and my brother." She informed the girl that would soon become their best friend.

"And I'm Satomi. I'm strong like my mommy. Sorry about your daddy…I didn't mean to hurt him. I was just trying to help _my_ daddy." The one on the left spoke up then.

Gaara looked down at his son, who seemed to be glued to his side, but his dark jade eyes never left the girl that had his sister's attention. "Naruto, Toshiro has brought a gift for Minako." The Kazekage spoke up, gesturing for Toshiro to step forward. But he did quite the opposite.

Sakura nudged her son forcefully. When he looked up at her defiantly, she narrowed her eyes. "Toshiro. Now." She said, her tone brooking for no argument.

Slowly, the younger redhead stepped forward and looked at the girl. He had heard a lot about Minako from his mother. The twins giggled and left the dark haired girl's side. Natsumi latched onto Gaara's leg and Satomi did the same to Sakura. A small blush began to creep up the boy's face. Why did he have to give the new Hokage's daughter a gift? Reluctantly, Toshiro reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin white gold necklace. The charm that dangled from the chain was an hourglass made from crystal, and it was filled with sand. "Here," he said softly, his eyes looking down, not bold enough to stare into her face as he offered the piece of jewelry to her.

Blue eyes widened in awe. Minako had never been given jewelry before, especially from such a cute boy. She stepped forward and carefully took the necklace from him, not wanting it to break. She put it around her neck, and then looked back over at the redhead, seeing that he was still looking at the ground. A goofy smile similar to her father's crept across her face then. She threw her arms around the boy, gripping him in a fierce hug. "Thank you! This is the best present I've ever gotten!" she yelled excitedly, startling the Sabakus.

"That's my girl." Naruto said, smiling in approval. Toshiro was wide eyed, and even the twins stiffened from the sudden physical expression. Sakura simply smiled. She thought it was adorable. The small redhead didn't move at first, but then let himself relax a bit. Slowly and awkwardly, he hugged her back.

Sakura nudged Gaara with her elbow excitedly, causing him to roll his eyes at her antics, while Naruto pulled his wife to his side and put his arm around her waist. But then the moment was ruined, by none other than Kakashi.

The silver haired jounin walked forward and grabbed Toshiro by the back of his shirt, yanking him out of Minako's embrace. Glaring into the startled boy's eyes, he said, "Oh no you don't. I will not lose another cute, innocent pupil to a Sabaku."

Sand wrapped threateningly around Kakashi, forcing him to drop his hold on Toshiro. Alarmed dark jade was quickly replaced with angry pale green. "Touch my son again Kakashi and you will seriously regret it." The sand tightened around the copy ninja.

"Daddy!" Natsumi ran forward, pulling on her father's red outfit. "Stop hurting Kakashi-sama! Satomi, tell daddy to stop!" the small girl cried out and looked to her twin. But this time Satomi's eyes were slanted into a familiar glare.

"Natsumi, no one hurts our family. I see why dad doesn't like Kakashi." She spat out, her face mirroring Gaara's.

"Kakashi-sensei stop being so mean!" Minako yelled. "You never let me make any friends!" she accused, sticking her lower lip out in an adorable pout.

Kakashi's visible eye widened. "But Minako! We don't know if he's nice or not! I'm just trying to protect you!" he said, obviously not worried about the sand surrounding him.

The ebony haired girl stomped her foot. "I don't need you to protect me Kakashi-sensei! If daddy trusts him, then why can't you?"

"Well your daddy doesn't always make the best decisions…" the silver haired man said.

"Well, mommy trusts them, and mommy is _always_ right." Minako said, giving him a haughty look while crossing her arms.

"Uh….." Kakashi really didn't have anything to say to that. Because it was true. Hinata _was_ always right. About everything.

"Daddy…please," tears started to stream down Natsumi's face. Gaara sighed and grudgingly released his hold on the older shinobi.

Clapping his hands together, Naruto smiled. "Okay! Now that that's over with, let's get down to business." He said, walking over to his desk.

"Hey Naruto, where's Shishou?" Sakura asked curiously. It was odd that Tsunade wasn't present, since Naruto wouldn't officially be Hokage for another few days.

"Oh Tsunade-baa-san is probably off in a drunken stupor. Once the date for me to become Hokage was set, she up and left, saying that this would be good practice." The blonde said good naturedly. Sakura smiled at this. It sounded so much like her shishou to skip out of her work early.

Gaara looked down at his three children, holding up a finger as if he were about to begin a lesson. "And see children, that is why you must never drink alcohol, unless you want to become a lazy psycho like grandma."

"But you must never become stiff like your father." Sakura said, mimicking her husband.

"I'm not stiff," Gaara said, looking offended.

"No, just structured. Strict. Every once in a while it is healthy to loosen up and be spontaneous." Sakura said, smiling at her husband.

"So basically, you kids should grow up to be like me!" Naruto yelled, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Good God no!" Gaara went wide eyed at the thought. He couldn't even imagine any of his children behaving like Naruto. "Stay just the way you are." He told them. Toshiro nodded, as did the twins.

"Don't worry Daddy," the girls smiled. "We like being devious."

"Naruto, it's getting late. We should head to dinner. I bet the children are hungry after such a long journey." Hinata said, smiling at the group.

The twins turned eagerly to their new aunt. "Yes we are Aunty Hinata!" they chimed together, running and hugging the woman.

Toshiro finally looked at Minako again, but only for a moment. He glanced back at his father. He _was_ the perfect son after all, the prodigy of Suna. "I am kinda hungry dad."

"Let's eat ramen! Ramen is the most delicious thing in the whole world!" Minako announced excitedly.

"That's my girl! She knows what's best!" Naruto agreed. Before he could announce that they were going to eat, Sakura smacked him on the back of the head.

"We are not eating that! I will not submit my children to something so unhealthy!" Sakura announced. She turned to Hinata. "Is that restaurant near the Hyuuga District still around?" she asked.

"The one you announced your engagement in? Yes, it is." Hinata answered with a smile, already knowing what her friend was thinking.

"Good. Gaara, do you object to eating there?" Sakura asked, turning back to her husband.

He gave her a skeptical glance. "Does it matter?"

"No, but I thought I would respect your wishes, if you so chose to eat somewhere else." She replied.

"I don't care." He said simply, a very normal response from the redhead.

The twins cheered, attaching themselves to each of Minako's arms. "Dinner with Minako! Yeah, yeah, yeah!" they sang happily.

Minako gave Toshiro a pleading look. She wasn't used to having this much attention lavished on her. Mostly the kids at school treated her normally, except for the few that ignored her completely. And she was perfectly happy with that.

Gaara walked out of the room and Toshiro followed obediently without a word. Naruto left then, wanting to get in some guy talk with one of his best friends. The twins squealed and looked up at their mother, "Mommy! Minako is so pretty! How come we never got to meet her before?"

"Because dears, you were too young to travel all this way, and vice versa." Sakura said, smiling down at her daughters.

"Oh." They both blinked.

"Now come on girls, it's time to go eat." Sakura clapped her hands. The twins immediately released Minako and trailed after their mother, joining hands, as was their nature. Hinata gave Minako a gentle push.

"Come on sweetie. Let's not keep everyone waiting." Hinata said gently.

"Yes Mama." Minako said, following behind obediently.

* * *

**A/N:** **These are some descriptions of the characters, just so you have a better idea as to what they look like.**

**Toshiro (Age 9): ** Gaara and Sakura's first son. He looks exactly like Gaara, but his eyes are a darker shade of jade. Just like his father, he suffers from insomnia, but not to the same extreme. He has both Gaara and Sakura's abilities, so he can manipulate sand and use monstrous strength, and he is learning how to heal from Sakura.

**Satomi (Age 7): **Gaara and Sakura's older identical twin daughter. She looks exactly like Sakura but has Gaara's eyes, with a bit of black rimming the bottom, a sign that she is a restless sleeper. She has Sakura's strength and medical prowess. Of the two, her characteristics favor Gaara.

**Natsumi (Age 7): ** Gaara and Sakura's younger identical twin daughter. She looks exactly like Sakura but has Gaara's eyes, with a bit of black rimming the top, a sign of her inability to sleep the whole night without waking up. She can manipulate sand like Gaara, and has Sakura's medical prowess. Of the two, her characteristics favor Sakura.

**Minako (Age 7): **Naruto and Hinata's daughter. She is the spitting image of her mother, except for her eyes, which are like Naruto's. Because of the byakugan, she doesn't have pupils. She wears her hair in a sideways ponytail, and her bangs are more jagged, going off to the left instead of hanging straight down the way Hinata's do.


	2. Competition

**Quake**

_Chapter Two_

-Competition-

"Remember the last time we were here?" Sakura asked, leaning towards her husband.

He remained silent, "Yeah. Lee attacked me, I talked to Kiba about sex, and Sasuke tried to make me look bad." He informed her, a long sigh escaping from his lips.

"Daddy what's sex?" Natsumi asked from her seat.

Gaara's expression didn't even change as he skimmed through the menu. "Something you won't know about until you're at least thirty." He said simply.

"Got it." She nodded, picking up her own menu and trying to mimic her father.

Naruto stared wide eyed at how easily such a subject was dismissed. Minako had a curious mind, and it was difficult to deflect her more mature questions. She would see through his feeble attempts, and continue to badger him. At least, until Hinata told her to stop. For some reason Minako always listened to his wife. It was annoying.

"Have you all decided what you want to eat?" Gaara asked his three children.

"Yes." Toshiro said softly. He had been seated next to Minako, but was too embarrassed to spare her a glance yet. The twins were sitting across from the two, one beside Sakura and the other beside Hinata.

Suddenly the twins disappeared underneath the table. Sakura looked down, a bit confused as to what they were doing. Gaara didn't even spare them a second glance. Toshiro groaned, smacking his palm to his forehead and sliding it down slowly. "Not here…." He complained.

Before any of the Uzumakis could get in a question, they popped back up and turned to their mother. "Ok mommy! Which is which? You know what we like! So you'll have to find out who's who."

"Really girls? Must we do this now?" Sakura asked, slightly annoyed. It was what, the third time in one day? She was getting tired of it.

"Don't avoid the question mommy. You have to answer, or we'll just keeeeeeeep doing it." Natsumi said with a devious smile.

Minako propped her head on the table with her hand and stared at the twins contemplatively. "Hmmmmm." She said, scrunching her face in a cute manner and tapping her chin. "Aunt Sakura." She said quietly.

The pink haired woman looked across the table at Minako, raising an inquisitive brow. Said girl continued to stare at the twins, appearing as if she were concentrating hard. Then she sat up, smiling. She pointed at the one next to her mother. "You are Natsumi." She said. Then she turned her attention to the one next to Sakura. "And you are Satomi."

Toshiro looked at Minako, wide eyed. Both girls stared in awe, and even the attention of the older redhead was captured. "How can you tell?" Gaara asked, simply astounded. "They're identical. They don't have a different bone in their body."

"Yeah, trust me. I've checked." Sakura rolled her eyes, she didn't know how it was possible, but her daughters had absolutely no physical difference.

"Well…" Minako began, turning slightly red at the scrutiny she was receiving. "Natsumi has a lot of chakra, and it's…chaotic and wild. Satomi doesn't have as much, but there is a lot, and it's more subdued and controlled." She said, hoping that she explained it well enough.

Gaara stared at the young girl, completely blown away. "That's…amazing. Are you sure you're Naruto's kid?" he laughed.

Toshiro just kept quiet. This was weird. No one beside him and his dad could tell Natsumi and Satomi apart.

Hinata smiled at Gaara. "You forget she is also my daughter. The Hyuuga have many abilities concerning chakra detection and control. Minako has a gift for it, and Neji-nii-san has been teaching her a bit." She said, obviously proud of her daughter's achievements.

The Kazekage nodded, giving the girl one last look before returning his gaze back on his menu. Toshiro was the only one still amazed with Minako and finally, he said something, "That was…really cool."

Minako turned beet red at the compliment. "Thank you Shiro-kun." She said softly, looking back at her menu.

He blinked, taken back by the suffix. Never before had he been called anything but Toshiro-sama, after all he was the Kazekage's son. He could feel the soft heat coming off his own cheeks now, and he looked away, ashamed from the weakness he was showing. He tried to harden his emotions like his father could, but the pink blush wouldn't dissipate.

Seeing this, Sakura kicked Gaara under the table, resulting with him holding in a yell. She met his glare with a look of excitement. She was nearly shaking with her happiness. "What?" he seethed, his glare only narrowing. She shook her head in their son's direction, raising her eyebrows. Then she smiled at him goofily.

He followed her gaze, watching his son fumble with his fingers and look off. Gaara looked back at Sakura, "What?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "You know….the thing." She whispered, so that the kids wouldn't here her.

"Yeah, ok. So what?" he asked, clearly not seeing what was so exciting about the reaction.

She sighed. "It's a sign!"

"Sakura I hardly think that's a sign." He gave her a doubtful look.

Natsumi tugged on her mother's arm. "What's a sign mommy?"

"Nothing sweetie. Your daddy is just being a butt." She said by way of explanation.

"Ooooooh," the girl nodded, looking over to her sister. The waitress finally came around, taking their drink and food orders. Gaara leaned back in his chair, watching his son closely now. He didn't know if he was still comfortable with what they had planned.

"Hey Gaara." Naruto said, effectively getting the redhead's attention. "We should spar after the ceremony. You know, Hokage vs. Kazekage. It'd be epic, don't you think?!" Naruto said excitedly, imagining the look on his people's faces when he beat Gaara.

Gaara took a sip of the water that was already on the table for them. He laughed at the blonde's confidence. "Funny Naruto. To think you could beat me."

"I can and I have!" He said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah. Once. When we were like twelve. But those days have long since passed my friend." He smirked, looking up at his longtime friend. "Of course, I'd always be willing to rub your face in the dirt."

The twins laughed with their father, "No one can beat our daddy." They said together, "He's the best."

"Yeah whatever. But I've perfected my techniques, and I have a few new ones." Naruto said giving his friend a devious smirk. "I've gotten so fast, I can run laps around Lee."

"Daddy, what did mommy say this morning?" Minako asked, using a scolding tone.

"Uh…."

"She said that a good ninja does not brag about their techniques. They keep them a secret to use as a trump card later on in the fight. The moment you give away your abilities, is the moment you lose the battle." Minako explained as the food arrived.

Naruto crossed his arms in a pout. "Yeah, but that was directed at you, since you're the child and need to learn things like that."

Minako crossed her arms and raised a small brow at her father. "If you already know things like that, then why aren't you following it? That only shows that you still have things to learn as a ninja daddy."

Sakura burst into laughter at this. It was just too funny, and his daughter was just too adorable. Gaara just smirked, "Thank you very much Minako, good teaching. You are a wise little girl."

The twins instantly puffed up, they're faces red with jealousy. "But daddy," Natsumi began.

"We're better…right?" Satomi finished, both staring their father down. Gaara blinked and looked at them. He always hated these types of situations.

Sakura continued to laugh, finding the situation her husband had unknowingly put himself in to be hilarious. Minako merely looked over at the girls in confusion. "Of course he thinks you guys are better. He's your daddy." She said. It made perfect sense to her.

The two looked over at their competition and decided this fact was enough…for now. Surprisingly the evening was going very smoothly. "So Naruto, when exactly are you going to become Hokage?" Gaara asked, cutting into his steak precisely.

"Well the ceremony should take place in two days' time. Unless the elders take their sweet time in finalizing the necessary paperwork. Honestly, I don't understand what's taking so long. There's only two of them, and they're close to kicking the bucket!" the blonde complained.

"I see, well I think we're planning on staying a week. To be spent in discussing…other things." He looked towards his son and sighed, but returned his gaze back to the blonde.

"Uncle Naruto, why do you only have two elders and no council?" Satomi asked, facing the Hokage.

"Well sweetie, that's because Konoha and Suna are very different in the way things are run. But even though we have less people here, they still get in the way." He told her, smiling.

"Well if it's only two people, why are there so many problems with them?" she continued, very unlike her response to her parents.

"Because they are old fuddy duddies. At least the Suna council has a few younger people on it. The elders here are just stuck in their ancient ways, and refuse to accept change." Naruto said, trying to stay calm. Part of the reason they were taking so long was because they knew Naruto was going to change the way things were run in the village concerning the ninja world, and it scared them.

Gaara laced his fingers and gave Satomi a hard look that silenced her. "Naruto, if you need any help don't hesitate to ask. The only reason Suna is thriving now is because I took control of the council. You cannot allow them to control _your_ village. I do not wish to impose on you, but I would suggest a council and make Hinata a part of it."

Naruto smiled good naturedly at his long time friend. "Thanks for the offer Gaara, I'll keep it in mind. Hinata-chan has been helping me with the politics of the whole thing, and Hiashi has been a huge help too. Those old geezers won't do anything too rash, for risk of upsetting the Hyuuga Clan. And once I become Hokage officially, things will definitely change." He said, taking a bite of his meal.

With a nod, silence returned to the table as they all ate.

"Hey Satomi-chan? Would you consider sparring with me while you're here?" Minako asked hesitantly.

"Oh Minako I wouldn't spar with Satomi, she's still having trouble controlling her strength." Gaara spoke up then, looking between his daughter and the other. "Natsumi might be better suited for sparring."

"I only asked Satomi-chan because her fighting style is taijutsu based. I could help her learn to better control her strength with a few exercises Uncle Neji has taught me. But if Natsumi-chan wants to spar I would be happy to do that as well." She said, completely polite.

"I don't need help controlling my strength. It's not my fault that I was given this." Satomi glared across the table, her darker side showing. She didn't like the idea of someone from some other village teaching her how to use her power. Only her mommy and grandma understood what she was going through. Natsumi blinked, looking over at her sister.

"What Satomi means is that we don't need help. Mommy is teaching Satomi to control her strength. It's harder for her since she got all of our daddy's rage." Natsumi flashed the girl a smile.

"Oh." Minako said looking down at her half empty plate. She had only wanted to help. Suddenly she perked up, sensing a familiar chakra. She turned around and got out of her seat, running a bit of a distance away. "Akito-kun! Sasuke-san! I haven't seen you in forever!" she yelled excitedly, hugging the young boy, who was a mirror image of his father.

Gaara froze, looking back and seeing the black spot of ink on the otherwise white canvas of his life. "Uchiha." He glared. Despite the fact that Sasuke had given up on getting Sakura, he still hated him.

The two girls looked at the new arrivals, "Who are you?" they asked together, eyeing them both. Suddenly they burst into laughter, "Your hair looks like a chicken butt!" they yelled in unison, pointing teasingly at the two. A small smirk crept up Gaara's face, ah those were his girls.

The boy called Akito glared at the twins as he returned Minako's embrace. How he hated girls. They were so annoying. "Hn. At least my hair isn't a freakish color." He said in a monotone. Sasuke smirked at his son's observation. He could dish it as good as he could take it. Both Natsumi and Satomi's jaws dropped. How dare he! They had beautiful hair!

Minako pulled out of the hug and smacked his arm. "Akito-kun! Be nice to my new friends!" she said, pouting slightly. But it was too late for that, this was one of the few moments where the twins reacted differently. Natsumi was out of her seat and tackling the Uchiha boy to the ground. She hit his chest weakly, not having her sister's strength. But it wasn't rage on her face, she was crying.

"I have pretty hair you meanie!" she yelled, some of her tears hitting Akito's face.

Satomi blinked, watching her sister. "How come Natsumi's sand isn't going crazy?" she asked, looking over at her father. He was staring at Natsumi, his lips pressed tightly together.

"Dad's stopping it so she doesn't accidently hurt Akito." Toshiro said simply, taking a bite out of the sandwich he ordered. Finally Gaara got up and grabbed Natsumi by the back of her shirt, lifting her off the boy. He set her back down, but kept his iron grip.

"I apologize for Natsumi's behavior…she's not very good at holding in her emotions and sometimes acts irrationally…like _someone_." Gaara glanced back at Sakura, who simply stuck her tongue out at the redhead just for spite. Natsumi crossed her arms angrily, looking off to the side, tears still staining her cheeks. "I'm sorry…Sasuke." He managed out, still trying to sound pleasant. He focused down on the smaller Uchiha, "I know she probably didn't hurt you, but she should have controlled herself."

"No harm no foul. If she's Sakura's daughter it's completely understandable." Sasuke said with a smirk. Then he looked down at his son, who was getting up off the floor and wiping the girl's tears off his face.

"You shouldn't make fun of someone else if you are not prepared for the consequences." The young Uchiha said, looking at the crying girl in Gaara's arms. He felt kind of guilty at having made her cry, but his father taught him to never feel sorry for his actions, so he brushed the feeling aside.

Minako crossed her arms angrily. "Akito-kun! What did I just tell you?! You won't make any friends with that kind of behavior." She warned.

His impassive forest green eyes turned back to Minako. "Ch." Was all he said before turning back to Gaara. "No harm done, Kazekage-sama." He gave the redhead a small bow and then, as if what had just happened wasn't a big deal, he turned to Naruto and smirked. "I didn't know you ate anything other than ramen Uncle Naruto."

This caused the Hokage-to-be to laugh. "I don't if I can help it. But Sakura-chan wanted to eat here and there's just no reasoning with the woman." He said sending his friend a smile. Then Naruto turned to Sasuke. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were off on a mission."

"We finished early. Akito and I were on our way to the training fields when we passed by and saw you." Sasuke said, not revealing that he had really come to see what Sakura's kids looked like.

Finally Gaara released Natsumi, giving her a snapping point, ordering her back to her seat. She walked back around the table without a word and sat next to her mother, arms still crossed. Toshiro got up then. He didn't have many interactions with boys his age besides his cousin, so this was a new possibility. He held out his hand to Akito and smiled, "Hey, I'm Toshiro."

Akito took his hand and shook it. "Akito." He said, not one for words.

Toshiro shook it back and nodded, "So you're an Uchiha. My mom and dad have told me a lot about the Uchihas. Do you have a sharingan yet? What does it do? What's it like? Sorry." Toshiro gave out a small laugh, rubbing the back of his head. "It's just I find genjutsu really interesting since I only excel in taijutsu and ninjutsu." He said, surprisingly being completely modest.

Akito smiled. He didn't know why his dad hated Gaara, his son was really nice. "Yeah I have the sharingan, but it's not fully developed yet or anything. That comes with time and hard work. As for what it does, I could show you in a spar. It'd be better if you could experience it for yourself."

Sakura almost said something at this, but stopped herself. Sasuke didn't get his sharingan until he was twelve, and even then all it could do was predict the enemy's movements. Perhaps that was all Akito's could do, since he was so young.

"Of course!" the smaller redhead exclaimed, excitement apparent on his features. Toshiro turned to his father, a pleading look on his face. "Can we dad? It's ok right?"

Gaara seemed a bit wary of the idea, but it was just a spar right? If anything started happening he could always step in so no one got to hurt. "I guess so,"

Akito didn't even need to ask his father. Any chance there was to train or spar his father made him do it. He only ever really got to play when he was with Minako. And even then sometimes she would want to spar. But he didn't mind practicing with her. She made it fun.

"Yay! Let's go!" Minako exclaimed, heading towards the exit.

"Minako." Hinata said quietly but sternly.

She turned back to her mother, blue eyes widening innocently. "Yes Mama?"

"Let everyone finish their meals. Sasuke and Akito may join us if they wish, but we are not going to up and leave before everyone else is ready." Hinata explained calmly. Sometimes, her daughter just got too excited. Like a certain blonde husband of hers.

"Yes Mama." She said, sitting in her seat and resuming eating her meal.

Not wanting to just stand around awkwardly, Akito took the seat next to Minako. He leaned over the table and looked at Toshiro. "So can you control sand like your dad? Or are you super strong like your mom? Both seem really cool to me." He asked excitedly. He had heard stories of both of the redhead's parents, and had always wanted to see them fight for himself.

"Well," Toshiro smiled, being a boy he did like to gloat every now and then. "As fortune should have it, I got both," he smiled genuinely. He didn't mean to be boastful, but he was proud of his bloodline. "My mom's even teaching me how to heal! Since I have really good chakra control, it's very handy if I get hurt at all. It also helps with my sand." He felt his smile growing. He wanted to see how other villages fought, he was so excited. "I can't wait to fight you!" he jumped up, sharing his chair with Akito since that was the only one available.

Gaara stared in awe at the two boys who were now sharing a sandwich and talking about different fighting styles. Natsumi's glare only increased, not believing that her brother was being friends with that….that meanie face!

"That's awesome! My chakra control isn't too shabby, but my mother wasn't from a ninja family or anything, so all my abilities are from my father." Akito said, taking a bite of the sandwich.

Minako was all smiles. Now her best friend was becoming friends with the cute boy. And Akito did need more friends. This meant that they would want to hang out, and she would get to play with them, therefore getting to see Toshiro more.

"Hmpf." Natsumi's glare increased, before she got down from her seat and walked away from the table. Gaara watched her curiously as she went right out the door. Sakura blinked and got up, opening her mouth to call out for her daughter. The redhead grabbed her wrist and shook his head.

"She'll be fine." He assured her, making her sit back down.

Akito's brow scrunched in confusion. Had he said something offensive? He looked at his new friend. "Is she ok?" he asked curiously.

Toshiro shrugged, "She's just being Natsumi. She always says Satomi has all my dad's anger." He shook his head with a small laugh as Satomi stared at the two. "But when she gets mad she's got all these emotions and she doesn't know how to focus them, I think it's a girl thing."

Naruto laughed. "Well Minako doesn't do that, she knows exactly how to focus them. Isn't that right sweetie?" he asked, smiling at his daughter. She merely stuck her tongue out at him.

Akito was only more confused. Naruto was right. Minako never did anything rash when she was upset. But then again, he tried really hard not to upset her, because she was important to him. And…it seemed the newcomers were important to her…so he should at least try to be nice…right?

He got up from his seat, excused himself, and walked out the door. He looked around and spotted her sitting next to the front door, staring at the ground. He walked over and tilted his head to the side. Might as well ask her nicely. "Are you ok?"

The ground seemed to be moving, but when he looked closer he realized it was sand squirming around on the ground. "You better go away," she said sadly. "My daddy isn't here to stop me, and my sand doesn't like mean, pink hating boys." She stood up then and gave him a hard look, but even as detached from people as he was, he could see through her façade of hatred. Her eyes were still red, probably from crying again.

She didn't understand why he had said such an awful thing about her hair. Everyone liked her. _Everyone_. She was the epitome of adorable.

A pained look came over his face then. He didn't like it when girls cried, especially when it was his fault. He had made Minako cry once. _Once_. And that was enough. "I…don't _hate_ pink…" he said, turning his gaze to the ground. "And…I'm sorry if I made you cry…" it was really eating away at his pride to do this, but it was his problem, and he always fixed his problems. He had been taught never to do anything halfway, and that when you messed up, you had to do whatever was necessary to fix it.

She looked over at him, a bit suspicious. But he looked sincere and seemed to be really sorry. She faced him and took his hand tenderly with both hers. She smiled brilliantly, something she inherited from her mother. "It's alright Akito, I forgive you." And without warning she dropped his hand and hugged him fiercely. After all, in her family, no one was ever allowed to feel unloved. Since there was always room in the heart to make more you could give it away to anyone. Because everyone deserved love. _Everyone_.

Akito's eyes widened and his body tensed slightly. Nobody but Minako had ever hugged him before. Not even his father showed him any affection, and his mother was dead, so it's not like he knew what a mother's love was like. He relaxed suddenly, and wrapped his arms around her, returning the embrace. Did this mean that now he had two new friends?

Her smile grew with his reaction. She looked up, her sparkling jade revived with happiness. "Natsumi likes Akito! He's not such a meanie after all," she reached up and pat his head, giggling.

His gaze narrowed. He didn't like it when people touched his head. But it seemed that she was one of those touchy feely people, so he would just have to get used to it. He smiled back down at her. She was really tiny for a girl. "You're not too bad yourself squirt." He said, smirking at the nickname he had picked out for her. It seemed to fit to him.

She blinked and stared up at him angrily, the pout on her face only making him laugh. "I am _not_ short!" she huffed. "I'm _only_ seven years old. I'll get bigger!" she promised, not liking that someone had actually talked _down _to her. She was like a princess in Suna, and no one would dare speak to her as he was. But it was interesting. "If you call me squirt I get to call you…um…" she stared at him for a while, trying to find a nickname for him. She growled in aggravation. She couldn't think of anything!

He smirked down at her. It was kinda fun to get her riled up. He let go of her and stepped away. "But when you get bigger, so will I. And I will _always_ be taller than you, cause' I'm a boy. So squirt works." He said.

Her jaw dropped as she stared at him, it was true. He probably would always be taller than her, even considering who her mother was. Her mom was significantly shorter than her father, and Sasuke had almost been as tall as her dad. She growled at the awful truth. "Well at least I'll be cuter than you," she smiled evilly, setting closed fists on her hips.

Akito crossed his arms. "Hn. Boys aren't supposed to be cute, they're supposed to be handsome." He replied with a triumphant smirk.

She opened her mouth for a retort that never game. She huffed once more, crossing her arms stubbornly. "Well then." She looked off and then back at the restaurant. She looked back at her new friend and blinked, pointing at the place. "Do you want to go back in?"

"We probably should. My dad will get mad if I stay out here much longer." He said, grabbing her by the hand and leading her back to the table.

Both Gaara and Sasuke looked at the entrance as the two children arrived, their glares shifting to their joined hands. "It's ok!" Natsumi announced, just as dramatically as ever. "I forgave Akito, and me and him are friends now." She informed the table, who simply laughed. All but two of the fathers seemed amused by this.

"See what being nice does Akito-kun? It makes you friends!" Minako said. Then she looked over at Toshiro. "Shiro-kun was nice to me, and now we're friends too!" then she gasped, suddenly realizing something. "We can all be friends like our parents are!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air excitedly.

Naruto laughed at his daughter's announcement. Then he looked over at Sasuke and Gaara. Noticing their glares, and where they were directed, he rolled his eyes. They were just kids, it wasn't like they were going to run off and get married.

Seeing that everyone was done eating, he placed some bills on the table. Sakura saw this and raised a brow. "Wow Naruto. You're paying for the food? Since when do you do that?" she teased.

Naruto put his hand behind his head, embarrassed. "Hehe, well Hinata-chan has made me into a better man I guess. Plus, you guys are my guests, so it's only fair."

The pink haired woman looked to her silent friend. "Well Hinata, I never thought I'd see the day. Good work." She complimented, smiling.

"Thank you Sakura. I try." The Hyuuga admitted, blushing slightly at the compliment.

Toshiro stood excitedly in his chair. "So now me and Akito can spar right?!"

Gaara finally tore his glare from the two kids and shook his head. "Not today Toshiro, we still need to get our belongings to our suite. I have things to handle with Naruto, and I would like to watch. Tomorrow we'll go out to the training fields and then you and Akito can have your brawl."

"What?" he asked disapprovingly, "But dad, come on." He begged for the first time, not immediately obeying his farther.

"I said tomorrow Toshiro." The redhead said once more.

"Can I at least hang out with Akito today?" he stopped and then jumped down from the chair, giving Sasuke a small bow. "Of course, if that's ok with you."

Sasuke looked down at the boy. "Hn. I suppose, as long as it isn't for too long. Akito still has to do his nightly training, and I don't want him up late."

"Yes sir." He nodded, looking to his father now. "Come on Dad, please?"

Gaara reluctantly agreed. Toshiro didn't have many boys to play with besides his cousin back in Suna. "Fine, fine. Go. And make sure you don't disrespect Sasuke." He said unwillingly, but his son needed to be courteous to everyone.

"Can we go play with Minako then Mommy?" Satomi asked, looking up at her mother.

"Of course you can sweetie. But mind whatever Aunt Hinata tells you, and if Uncle Naruto says something stupid, be sure to hit him for me." Sakura said with a smile.

She nodded and got down from her chair, walking over to her sister. "Come on Natsumi." She said holding out her hand. The younger twin looked at her sister's hand and then down at hers and Akito's entwined fingers. She looked back up at him, still keeping her grip. Sasuke got up and called the boys over towards the door. Toshiro grabbed Akito's free arm and dragged him after the dark haired man.

"Come on Akito!" he laughed.

As he was being dragged away by his new friend, he looked down at his other hand and then back towards Natsumi. It was odd. He was never one to initiate physical contact, and yet he had grabbed her hand without thinking about it. Before he could contemplate further on the matter, his attention was grabbed by his father, who was telling them the rules of the house while playing.

Natsumi blinked and stared after him, finally putting her hand in her sister's and going over to Hinata.

Minako got up and took a hold of her mother's hand. Exchanging a smile with her daughter, Hinata led the group towards their house, praying that the boys would get along even though their fathers didn't.

* * *

**Akito (Age 8):** The only child of Uchiha Sasuke. He looks exactly like his father, but his eyes are a dark, forest green. His hair sticks up the way Sasuke's does, but he doesn't have the long bangs on the side of his head. Instead, his bangs sweep off to the left a bit and fall above his eyes. He can use the sharingan, but it is not fully developed because of his young age. He never met his mother, who died in childbirth, but he did inherit some of her mannerisms. Such as he shows emotion more than Sasuke does, and hates to see people cry.


	3. Play Date

**Quake**

_Chapter Three_

-Play Date-

The two contrasting boys stood side by side, nodding at everything the older man told them. Such as no running in the rooms with heirlooms, and not throwing kunai around the house. "Now…if you want to do the dangerous things, go out into the backyard and knock yourselves out." He said simply, catching his words and shaking his head. "But don't literally knock yourselves out, cause' Sakura would try and murder me…again." He sighed, receiving questioning looks from the boys. "Just go play," he waved them off.

At his dismissal Akito ran to his room, followed by the excited Toshiro. He opened the door and walked in. "Well this is my room." He said gesturing to the space.

It wasn't too large, but it had just enough room to appear spacious. There was a full bed by the wall, along with a desk underneath the window, littered with kunai and notes from the Academy. On the opposite wall was a shelf, full of knick-knacks and pictures of Akito and his dad, and Akito with Minako and Naruto's family. On the opposite side was a display case, with a katana in it. There were a few scrolls on the walls, but the room was mostly bare. Not a thing was out of place.

"Whoa!" Toshiro came in, looking around. It was awesome. "Man my mom doesn't ever let me have kunai in my room." He said, grabbing one of the heavy metal weapons. He rolled his eyes a bit, twirling the thing in his hand, "She thinks I might stab myself, or something stupid like that."

"What's it like? Having a mom I mean." Akito asked, sitting on his bed.

The redhead stopped and looked over at his new friend, a bit of shock on his face. "What do you mean? Don't you have one?" he asked. Though now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen a woman when they arrived at the house. When Sasuke and Akito were out it hadn't seemed odd, because Toshiro went around the village with his father all that time.

Akito looked at the ground. "No. My mother died giving birth to me. She wasn't very strong." He said, sadness in his voice. His father told him it wasn't his fault, but he had always felt that he was partly responsible.

"Oh," was all the other boy could manage out. He tried to imagine it, a life without his mother. He could already feel the sadness, the cold life it would have been without all his mother's love and affection. The mere thought of her being gone created a void in his heart. He walked over to Akito and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Well, if your mom was still alive, I'm sure things would be the same, because your dad loves you too. Right?"

"Yeah, I guess." The young Uchiha sighed. He wanted to believe what his friend was saying, but, in all honesty, he really _didn't_ know if his father loved him. Deciding that he wanted to change the subject, he looked up at Toshiro. "So, what do you wanna do?" he asked, perking up a bit. It wouldn't do to show emotion, because that wasn't the way of the Uchiha.

Toshiro thought long and hard, but then laughed, "I honestly don't know. I don't know what you can do here in Konoha."

"Just about anything really. When Minako and I hang out we go play pranks on people. But we could do something else instead. I have a practice target in the backyard if you wanna throw kunai and shuriken. We can even make a game out of it." He suggested.

"Sounds like fun! Lead the way!" the redhead exclaimed happily.

Akito opened up his closet and pulled out two containers of weapons. Then he walked out of his room and led the way to the small practice arena behind his house. He set the boxes down about ten feet from the posts. "Ok, you can be the red tipped ones, and I'll be the blue tipped ones. That way we can tell them apart." He said, opening up the boxes.

"Cool, cool. So how do we play? What are the rules?"

"Ok we'll play Horse. Basically, I'll throw a kunai from wherever I choose. Then you go. Whoever hits the center from the spot gets an H. Then, the one who hits the middle moves to another spot, and goes again. Whatever spot the winner picks is the one that the other player has to move to when they eventually hit the center. And we keep playing until one of us spells the word Horse. Any questions?" he asked as he finished taking the weapons out of their cases.

Toshiro bent over and picked up one of the kunai, tossing it in the air and then catching it. "Alright, go for it." He smiled, looking back at the target.

Akito walked over so that he was at a seventy-two degree angle from the post. Turning, he flung his arm out, just barely hitting the center. He let out a sigh of relief. If his father had seen that he would have made him do it again until he got it right. But this wasn't training. This was a game, and he would have fun.

"Wow! Great aim!" Toshiro cheered him on. He tried to focus. He had practiced throwing kunai a little. "Alright." He took his aim and threw the kunai as precisely as he could. He didn't do too bad either, he had gotten pretty close to Akito's, but it was still a miss. "Aw man!"

"That was really close!" Akito said. Then he walked over to Toshiro and grabbed his hand, placing another kunai in it. "Here, if you hold it like this it will go farther and be more precise." He said, forming Toshiro's hand over the kunai.

He nodded, listening and watching intently, just like a good student. "Alright." He aimed again and focused, doing just what Akito had told him. When he tried again he was much closer. A bright smile illuminated his face. "Wow! Not yet but better! Right?" he asked.

"Yeah that was good!" Akito said, and then walked so that he was at a forty-five degree angle. He turned so that his back was facing the post. Taking a deep breath, he turned swiftly and threw his kunai, hitting the post dead center this time. Seeing that he hit his mark, he smiled. He had been working on that angle for months now, and was glad that he had finally hit it, even if his father wasn't there to see.

Toshiro just started laughing again, "Wow! You're really good Akito!" he smiled, his facial features looking more like his mother's now. "How long did it take you to get that? You must train a lot."

"Yeah, my dad makes me train three hours a day doing various drills. I can teach you if you want." He suggested, liking the idea of being able to share what he had learned with someone else.

"I'd really like that." Toshiro said sincerely. "But…my mom would get so mad."

"Well…what if you are backed into a corner in a fight, and you can't use any of your jutsu? Taijutsu can only help you so much. If your enemy has a weapon and knows how to use it, you'll also need to know, so that you can defend yourself. And your mom wouldn't want you to not be able to defend yourself, right? So I'll teach you, and if you get in trouble, just tell her that. It's foolproof." He said with a mischievous smile.

Deciding that made enough sense for his nine year old mind he hurriedly nodded. "Alright teach me! I want to know! I know I probably won't be as good as you," he laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "But it'd still be cool to be better."

"Don't worry, I will just start you off with the basics. First I need to know what you can do, so show me." He said stepping back and crossing his arms.

Toshiro showed him what he knew, which actually _was_ only the basics. Every once in a while Akito would stop him and show him how to perfect his form, and then ask him to do it again. Once Toshiro got the hang of it, Akito showed him a new way to throw them, adding a bit more force.

They continued to run through a few drills until they noticed that the sun was beginning to go down. Both boys were hungry, so they went inside to have dinner.

* * *

The girls went to Minako's house. It was a decent size, and pretty simple. Entering the house, they followed Minako upstairs and to her room, as Hinata and Sakura went to the living room to have tea. She opened the door, and the sight revealed to the twins caused them to gasp in awe.

It was a large room, with a huge bed in the center, a sheer curtain hanging down from it. The walls were a bright blue, matching the curtains hanging from the bed and over the window. There was a chest at the end of her bed. She had a small desk beneath the window, and next to it was a shelf, full of photos of her family and friends. In the corner of her room, right next to her bed, was a mountain of stuffed animals. In the opposite corner there was a lavish doll house.

"Um, here's my room." Minako said pointing her fingers together the way her mother used to do.

"Wow! It's so pretty!" they ran around, even though their room was much bigger they still found it amazing. Satomi looked at all the pictures, smiling at all the happy times Konoha seemed to offer. Natsumi had stopped by the mountain of stuffed animals, they were so much different than her own. "Wow!" she yelled, grabbing a bunny and hugging it tightly. "Minako I love your room!"

"Thanks. My daddy buys me all those stuffed animals, that way I will never be alone when he and mommy are busy." She said, a small smile on her face. Her dad spoiled her rotten, but she wasn't conceited about it. She knew he only did it because he loved her so much. And her mom made sure to teach her to appreciate everything that life had to offer.

This made the twins stop and look at one another. "Our daddy gets them for us because we're 'precious gifts from above'." Natsumi said blandly.

Satomi nodded, "Though now when you say it like that it makes me feel like a brat."

"But we don't ever have to worry about being lonely." Natsumi explained to Minako. "Whenever daddy is at work or mommy is at the hospital we have each other and Toshiro."

"Yeah, and usually Aunt Ino or Uncle Kiba watch us or take us to the flower shop." Satomi continued. Both saddened instantly.

"Does that make us terrible people?!" they cried out in unison.

"No! I think you guys are great!" Minako said, trying to make them feel better. "I'm not always alone. Sometimes Uncle Sasuke watches me and I get to stay with them. So Akito-kun and I play together. Well, we train mostly, but it's still fun! And Tsunade-baa-san watches me every once in a while. Or I go over to my grandfather's house or Uncle Neji's home in the Hyuuga District."

The younger pink haired twin perked up and looked over at Minako. "Hey Mina-chan…do you have any thread?"

Satomi looked at her sister and blinked. "What do you need thread for?"

"Nothing!" Natsumi retorted, a small blush adorning her cheeks.

"So why do you want it then?"

"Because I _just_ do. Jeez. What? I can't find simple entertainment from string? I don't tell you how to live your life Satomi!" she stuck her tongue out at her sister then.

Minako walked over to the chest at the end of her bed and opened it. She dug around for a while, but then, finding what she was after, pulled out a small box. She opened it up, revealing an assortment of colors.

"Here Natsumi-chan, you can use whatever you want." Minako said, placing the box on the floor.

"Thank you," she smiled, bringing the box closer to her and pulling out different shades of pink string. She began working diligently, focused on her task.

Satomi gave Minako a poke in the arm and smiled. "We should ask your mommy if we can play dress up."

"Oh we don't have to. I have a whole closet of stuff we can use!" Minako exclaimed, running over to her closet. She opened the doors, and dragged out two huge bins of clothes.

"These are full of stuff that we can dress up in. As long as we pick up before you guys leave, she won't be upset." Minako said, throwing the lids off.

Satomi opened one and her eyes widened with delight. "So pretty!" she smiled pulling out a feathered hat and setting it on her head. She found a matching feathery fan and whipped it out, covering her face and batting her eye lashes at the Uzumaki girl.

Minako giggled at her friend. She reached into the other box and pulled out a top hat, placing it on her head. She made a serious face, similar to the one Akito always wore. She crossed her arms. "Hn." She said, trying to keep her face serious.

Satomi laughed, putting on oversized sunglasses and fanning her new friend. "So what's the deal with that Akito boy?" she asked.

Minako's face turned to one of confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked.

She shrugged, stealing a hidden glance at her sister. "Just that he's a bit weird…he's mean at first and then he goes after Natsumi when she's mad. Not to mention he held her hand…" she trailed off, doing her best not to seem peeved.

"Oh. Well that's just how Akito-kun is. He wants people to think that he's mean, but he's actually really nice. He went after Natsumi-chan because he doesn't like it when girls cry and it's his fault. But don't tell him I told you that, cause' he'll just get mad at me." Minako said.

Natsumi looked up, hearing their conversation. "Why are you guys talking about Akito?"

"No reason." Satomi waved her sister off. "He's just a boy after all," she said, rolling her eyes and placing lots of necklaces around Minako's neck. Followed by a crown on her head, "Oh Princess Minako." The young girl exasperated, bowing extremely low.

The young girl made a haughty face. "Bow before me my subject. Bow!" she said, changing her voice to that of an aristocrat.

The older twin laughed, pulling out a wooden sword. "Overthrow the Queen!" she yelled, chasing Minako around the room. Both girls were laughing hysterically.

"How dare you show such disrespect!" Minako yelled, laughter evident in her voice. "You will be punished my unfaithful subject!" she announced, grabbing a pillow off her bed and hitting an unsuspecting Satomi in the face.

Satomi fell from the hit, still laughing to show there was no harm done. "I will rebel!" she yelled, grabbing another pillow and hitting Minako. "Mwahahaha!" and so the onslaught of fluff began.

"Girls!" Sakura yelled from down stairs a while later. "It's time to go!"

They paused in their pillow fight, eyes wide. They had been so engrossed in their game that the pillows had busted, causing the feathers to go flying. Minako giggled. "Oops, I guess we got carried away."

Satomi laughed, "Sorry. I'll help you clean up." She said, gathering the pillows from the floor and the bed. Natsumi closed the box and stuffed her work in her pocket.

"I'll help too," she grabbed the box and put it back where Minako had taken it from, then joined the other two in cleaning the room.

Once they had all the feathers back in the pillow cases, Minako took them to the room at the end of the hall. She quickly ran out of the room with two new pillows and placed them on her bed. Then the girls ran downstairs.

"Thank you for letting Natsumi-chan and Satomi-chan come play Aunty Sakura!" Minako said.

"You're welcome sweetie." Sakura said, smiling at the young girl. Then she turned to her daughters. "Ready to go get your brother?" she asked.

"Does that mean we have to go see Sasuke?" Satomi grimaced.

"And Akito too!" Natsumi put in, excited to see her new friend again. She did after all love friends. With a final goodbye, both twins hugged Minako and went off with their mother into the lit streets of Konoha. Each girl grabbed one of their mother's hands, since they didn't know their way around this place.

Sakura led them to Sasuke's house, which was located where the old Uchiha District was. It had been destroyed with Pein's attack, but the land still belonged to him. When they arrived at the house, Sakura rang the doorbell.

Sasuke answered the door, eyes widening slightly at seeing Sakura. He stepped aside, gesturing for them to enter. "Come in." he said politely. After everything that had happened between them, he wanted to try and be friends with her again. She _was_ one of the few people he could stand.

He walked towards the kitchen. Stopping in the doorway, he said, "Akito, it's time for Toshiro to leave. His mom is here." He said simply.

"Yes father. Come on Toshiro!" Akito said exiting the kitchen and coming towards the door, the redhead in tow.

"Did you boys have fun?" Sakura asked, a little apprehensive of the answer.

"Oh yes mom, it was lots of fun. Akito taught me so many things!" Toshiro smiled, not telling her what exactly his friend had taught him. Toshiro faced Sasuke and bowed respectfully, "Thank you Sasuke-sama for letting me come over."

"It was no problem. You can come over whenever you want." Sasuke said. He might as well let his son and the redhead become friends. He knew how important it was to have that one male friend who was always there for you, and he wanted his son to have that.

"Hi Akito!" Natsumi called from her mother's side, waving excitedly.

Akito gave her a small smile. "Hey squirt."

Satomi almost burst into laughter, but quickly stopped herself so she wouldn't face her sister's wrath. Natsumi huffed, her face red with anger and embarrassment, "I said not to call me that!" she demanded, though when she tried to stand up to him…well, he _was_ taller.

"That doesn't mean I have to stop." He said, smirking down at her. "You're not the boss of me."

Her lip trembled and her eyes began to water. "But…" she said softly, now sniffing and trying to press back her tears.

His smirk immediately left his face to be replaced by a pained look. "Please…don't cry." He said softly. He was embarrassed that his dad was seeing this weak side of him, but it was too late. After what had happened earlier that afternoon, he had sworn to himself that he wouldn't make her cry either. It made his heart hurt.

She sniffed once more, trying to clear her eyes. Toshiro came beside her and flicked the side of her head. "Ow!" she growled, glaring over at her brother now.

"Why are you so weird Natsumi? Come on already, me and Akito had a long day. So I'm tired, let's gooooo!" he cheered, giving his mom a hug. Natsumi looked back at Akito, a bit embarrassed now from the scene she caused in front of everyone.

"See you tomorrow Akito?" she asked, a small smile coming back to her face.

Now he was confused. A minute ago she looked like she was about to start the waterworks, and all Toshiro had to do was flick her on the forehead and make fun of her and she stopped. Maybe it was a sibling thing.

"Yeah. Toshiro and I still have to spar remember? You can come watch your brother get his butt kicked." He said jokingly, smiling at his new friend.

Before Natsumi could even say anything, Toshiro pushed her aside, giving Akito a playful glare. "You think you're gonna kick my butt?" he laughed, crossing his arms and smirking. "You may have won today my friend, but tomorrow I will be victorious!"

The young girl glared at her brother, why was he hogging Akito all to himself? Satomi sighed, "Please Akito kick his butt and bring him back down to earth."

Akito smiled. "We'll see. Besides, it's not like tomorrow is the only time I'll spar you. We can even play Horse every time you guys visit." He said, giving Toshiro a meaningful look. He hoped his friend was smart enough to catch on that he was talking about teaching him more about kunai throwing.

Then Akito looked over at Natsumi. "So, who do _you_ want to win?" he asked, since Satomi had already made her choice obvious.

The girl went wide eyed; who _did_ she want to win? She loved her brother and knew how strong he was, since he was the prodigy of Suna. But Akito was an Uchiha and she had heard many things about them. _And_ he was her new friend. "Um…" her face went dark red as her brother and Akito loomed over her.

"Now, now boys." Sakura clapped her hands, grabbing Natsumi from the frenzy and pulling her back to her side. "Toshiro lets go, your dad is probably waiting up for us." Without a fuss Satomi and Toshiro followed their mother out.

"See you Akito!" Toshiro waved, Natsumi glanced back as well mimicking her brother's actions.

"Bye….Natsumi." Akito replied softly.

Once they were all back at the door, Sakura gave Sasuke a friendly smile. "Thanks for having him Sasuke, we'll see you tomorrow. Have a nice night."

"As I said it was no problem. I'll see you in the morning." Sasuke replied, seeing them out.

After saying their final farewells, the four headed back into the streets, following their mother towards their hotel.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief when she saw the hotel. She and Hinata had just chatted while the girls played, catching up on things, but she was bone tired after the long journey. All she wanted to do right now was put the kids to bed and fall asleep in her husband's arms.

When she opened the door to their room she found Gaara sitting at a small desk, looking over some paperwork. Typical.

"Daddy!" the twins yelled, running up to their father and gripping him in a fierce hug.

"We had so much fun today daddy!" Natsumi said.

"Yeah! Mina-chan has the coolest room!" Satomi added, both girls clearly excited over having a new friend, and in another village no doubt.

"Is that so?" Gaara smiled, giving them both a tight hug. "Alright girls, how about you go get ready for bed and I'll be in there to read you a story in just a minute."

"Yay!" the two cheered, detaching themselves from their father and running into one of the adjoining rooms to the suite.

The older redhead looked over to his son and got up, "So how was playing with…um, what's his name? Akito?"

"Yeah, Akito. It was great dad, we played games and he even taught me a whole bunch of stuff. I'm so excited to get to spar with him tomorrow!" Toshiro jumped happily. He loved Konoha, and it had so many cool people.

"Alright, alight." Gaara laughed, patting his son's head. "Off to bed, you need your strength for tomorrow." Toshiro nodded and gave Sakura a hug goodnight before disappearing behind another door.

Jade eyes locked on emerald, "And how was your day my dear?"

Sakura sighed contently, walking towards her husband and snuggling into his inviting arms. "Good," she purred, nuzzling into his neck. "I missed you." She smiled, getting a confident grin in reply.

"Is that so? How did the children do though?" he arched his brow. Their spawn could sometimes be pretty destructive.

"They did just fine. They got a bit noisy, but nothing broke so I guess everything went well." She said. "How was your day with Naruto?" she asked, pulling away slightly to look at his face.

"Boring. But things that needed to be handled were handled so that's good," he nodded, pulling her back against him and kissing her neck. "Now, I think a nice gift from my beautiful wife would be for her to go slip into something a little more provocative as her amazing husband reads their twin tyrants a story." He smiled, trailing his kisses down her throat now.

She smiled at his train of thought. It wasn't much different than her own. "I have just the thing, you haven't even seen it yet."

"Well I can't wait." He smirked, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. He pulled away from her then, disappearing into the twin's room to read them a story. Sakura giggled and went to her and Gaara's room. She'd sleep well after a nice releasing workout.


	4. Spar

**Quake**

_Chapter Four_

-Spar-

The morning was silent and peaceful, and the slumbering Kazekage sighed in content. Feeling the warmth beside him, he pulled his wife into his arms and held her tightly, eyes still closed. He wanted to stay like this all morning, but of course luck was never on his side. The door to their bedroom flew open and suddenly there was a weight on them, jumping up and down. Toshiro bounced around happily, trying to wake his parents, "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" he yelled, landing in between them now and separating the two. Gaara had to suppress a glare. This was the only thing he did not like about his kids. They _always_ shattered perfect moments, whether Sakura and him were cuddling or doing _other _activities.

"Toshiro, be careful or you'll hurt the baby." Sakura mumbled, a bit upset that her morning was being disturbed by one of her children. Again.

The boy ceased immediately, leaning over his mom and rubbing her tummy lovingly. "Sorry baby brother. I didn't mean to, but when you get out of there we can play all the time." He smiled, wrapping his arms gently around Sakura's midsection. She wasn't showing at all yet, but all three of the children could feel their brother, and they were always careful when they played with their mother.

Sakura rolled over and embraced her son lovingly. She loved the twins, but he was the apple of her eye. "I bet he can't wait to meet you." She said to her son, smiling up into Gaara's eyes.

He couldn't help the smile that was forming on his face. He loved his children so much, and surprisingly, they had calmed him down. He wasn't as angry and hateful as he used to be, and he found getting upset rather difficult. He couldn't have asked for better children, a promising son who was already showing so much potential and two beautiful girls. He couldn't imagine what the next one would be like, since all of them were extremely different. Toshiro smiled back at his parents, "I hope he comes soon. I want to have a baby brother."

It was then that the twins ran in, having heard all the commotion. "Mommy! Daddy!" they yelled together, climbing up onto the bed. Satomi wiggled next to Sakura and saw the focus of their attention as Natsumi crawled over Gaara. "Baby brother!" they both smiled happily.

Sakura smiled tenderly at her kids. She couldn't have asked for a better family. And the best part was that she got to make it with Gaara. "We should all get moving kids. You girls need a bath, and Toshiro needs to get ready for his spar with Akito." Sakura sighed, not really wanting to break the lovely moment.

Natsumi hurried off the bed with Satomi following, "Yeah Natsumi get a bath so you can look pretty for Akito," she snickered.

"I don't want to look pretty for him!" she yelled back at her sister, though the other three could see the red blush on her face. They left with Natsumi chasing her sister towards the bathroom, threatening to strangle her. Gaara looked back at Sakura and sighed,

"Should I be worried?"

"Nah. They're just kids, she'll get over it soon. Unless…no, it'll be fine." Sakura said, placing her hand over her stomach.

Toshiro jumped from the bed and landed expertly on his feet. "Well I'm going to warm up and then take a shower so I'll be all ready to fight Akito!" he shot his fist in the air and left the room in a mad dash. Once all the little ones were gone, Gaara turned back to Sakura, wrapping arm around her waist and pressing her against him once more.

"Now…where were we?" He smirked, kissing her neck, trailing kisses down to her nightgown straps.

She giggled at his antics. "I think…we were going to go take a shower." She said, a devious smile on her face.

He smiled back, dragging her out of the bed and towards the bathroom, not bothering to hide the excitement on his face. "My sweet, sweet love." He whispered to her, bringing her close and kissing her briefly before shutting the door behind them.

* * *

Toshiro stood ready, dressed in a simple attire. He was wearing a black shirt, much like Gaara had worn when he was young. He also had black pants on, one kunai holster strapped to his right thigh. "Alright! I'm ready, come on guys!" the young boy ordered the rest of his lagging family. He quickly placed his gourd on securely. It was smaller than his father's because he was only so big for the time being.

Natsumi and Satomi stared at their brother. They had decided to dress apart today. It was the same outfit, but Satomi's was mostly red and Natsumi's was mostly a pale pink. They wore simple tank tops and matching capris. "Stop bossing us around like you're the king of the world." they ordered together.

Finally their parents came from their room and headed for the door. "Come on," Gaara gestured to their family. They locked the door behind them and headed off to the training fields. Toshiro broke into a run when he saw his friend.

"Hey Akito!" he waved and stopped just before he would collide with the boy.

"Hey Toshiro! Are you ready?!" Akito asked excitedly. He had trained a little earlier that morning, and his father told him that he would do well, which was something his dad hardly ever told him.

"I was born ready," he smirked, his confidence rising. He looked just like his dad right then. Toshiro took out some black gloves. His mother had taught him he always needed to protect his hands when he was fighting.

"Hi Akito!" Natsumi bubbled, popping up behind her brother, giving the Uchiha a brilliant smile.

"Hey." He said, wrapping his hands in cloth. If Toshiro was going to use any of his mom's strength and stuff, then he might need to revert to taijutsu, and he wanted his knuckles to be protected. Then he activated his sharingan, his eyes bleeding to red, with two tomoe in it.

The girl huffed and gave a small glare at the two. Boys and their training. She rolled her eyes, not understanding what was so awesome about it. She made her way back to Satomi's side, crossing her arms angrily. "So," the older twin looked over, smirking. "Ignored you. Huh?"

"Shut up Satomi."

Satomi giggled and watched her brother and the other boy. It wasn't long before Naruto, Hinata, and Minako came into the training area. Gaara waved his hand, deciding to be nice, for once, and used his sand to create chairs for everyone. Naruto sat down, with Gaara and Sasuke on either side. Sakura was beside her husband and Hinata took a seat by the pink haired woman. The girls sat down on the ground in front of their parents.

Toshiro smiled and held his hand out to Akito. "Good luck my friend." He said truthfully.

"You too." Akito said, shaking his friend's hand. Then they walked onto the field. Stopping about ten feet apart, they turned and faced the other, Akito sliding into a taijutsu stance.

Toshiro did the same, his stance a bit different though. "Please Akito…don't hold back."

The dark haired boy nodded, and with a silent 'Go!' the two lurched forward. Akito had a kunai already drawn and sand was pouring out from Toshiro's gourd. The deathly earth shot forward, grazing the boy's cheek, but thanks to his sharingan he had narrowly avoided the blow.

Akito then threw the kunai, testing the sand. He wasn't disappointed when it moved to block the weapon, it actually made him happy. It meant that this would be more of a challenge. He flipped away when his kunai was deflected, not wanting to get hit by the sand surrounding the redhead.

Toshiro followed the movement with his eyes, which were far from friendly now. He was now his father's son. He was different when he fought. He needed to be flawless or else it would bring shame to his father and his father's reputation. He was not allowed to fail. Toshiro slid to a stop, his hands moving quickly to form signs, the sand rushing after the evasive Uchiha. Once Akito touched down, sand wrapped around his ankle, holding him in place. When he was trapped Toshiro ran forward, pulling back a fist.

Akito's eyes widened slightly. With the sharingan he could predict where Toshiro would go, but not his sand. He quickly formed the hand seals for the fire jutsu that the Uchiha were famous for, sending it towards the redhead. At this distance it would be sure to hit, unless the sand got in the way.

True to its nature, the sand rose defensively, protecting its smaller master. But not a moment too soon. Toshiro smirked, he could feel the heat through that one. Pumping chakra into his feet and keeping his sand up as a cover, the redhead jumped high into the air and aimed a kicked right for Akito's face.

Gaara watched intently, smirking. His son was doing perfect, just like he thought. Satomi seemed un-amused by the fight and found interest in braiding Minako's hair. Natsumi stared wide eyed at the two. Toshiro was going to hurt Akito if that kick connected. She could feel her own sand creeping forward, "Natsumi." Her father's threatening voice made her wince. She lowered her head in shame and gripped tightly onto the grass.

When the kick connected, Akito disappeared in a puff of smoke. As Toshiro landed his ankle was grabbed. He was swung around suddenly, and thrown across the field.

Sasuke simply watched the spar in silence. He had taught his son well, and the fact that Kakashi also tutored him was a bonus. Akito knew what he needed to do, it was second nature to him. Sasuke just hoped that he wasn't disappointed again. He was already taking note of everything his son was doing wrong and what he needed to improve on.

Sand surrounded the redhead, shock all over his face. He hadn't expected that, but he was seriously impressed. Flipping back and landing on his feet, sliding back a bit, he pressed his palms against the earth, the sand covering the entire area and breaking up the earth to create more of the grainy substance. It was now his terrain and he would use it to his advantage. Slowly mounds began to rise from the particles, creating life-like clones. They all attacked at once, not giving Akito a chance to escape.

Akito quickly made the hand signs for clones of his own, making enough to fight all the sand ones. Each version of Akito drew a kunai, reciprocating the attacks that the sand clones were directing at them. The real Akito quickly performed some more hand signs and, drawing some of the water from the small pond next to the field they were in, sent a water dragon after the redhead, knowing that water would make the sand heavier and harder to control.

He needed to finish the spar soon, because even though he was a prodigy in his own right, he was still a kid, and didn't have the chakra required to keep up these moves for much longer.

All the sand in the field surged towards the redhead, creating a thick shield so the water would be absorbed into the earth. Toshiro dashed to the side and ran at Akito. It was time to end this fight, Sabaku no Sakura style. He pulled a fist back and aimed it right for Akito's face. Deciding this was going to be his last chance to get something on the older boy, Akito lifted his leg into a round house kick. Just as Toshiro's fist made contact with the Uchiha's jaw, Akito's leg smacked right against Toshiro's head. They both fell to the ground, a sick crack coming from Akito's face.

Toshiro hit the ground with a hard thump, but was up again, blood dripping from the side of his head. He was breathing hard now, "Wow." He was truly amazed. He had never been wounded before.

Akito just lay on the ground panting. He didn't think he would be able to stand without falling over, his head hurt so bad. But, more than that he was afraid. He had lost, and now his father would punish him.

Seeing that the spar was obviously over, Sakura walked out onto the field. She knelt down next to Akito and healed his head. "You should be fine now." She told the boy with a smile. Then she got up and healed her son's nose. "You did wonderful sweetie." She told him, a proud smile on her face.

"Thanks mom!" Toshiro smiled, running over to Akito and leaning over him. "Wow great job!" he said happily, offering his hand down to his friend. "I can't believe you actually hit me! I've never been hit before!"

Akito took it and shook his head, testing to see if it really was ok. When he didn't feel any pain or dizziness, he smiled. It was really cool how Toshiro's mom could heal like that. Before he could go congratulate his friend, his father was at his side. "Akito." He said, voice low in anger.

He looked up into his dad's onyx eyes, his having reverted back to their deep green. "Yes father?" he asked tentatively.

"I am disappointed in you. Clearly I have been too lenient with your training lately. Starting tomorrow we will double your exercises to ensure that you do not fight as sloppily as you did today. Am I making myself clear?" he asked, scowling down at his son.

Akito's face turned red in embarrassment and shame. If he were one for crying, he would be by now. "Yes father, I understand. I will do better next time." He said, looking to the ground in shame.

"See that you do. I will be at the house." Sasuke said, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Everyone else just stared at the young Uchiha, various emotions played on their faces. Surprisingly, Gaara dismissed himself from the group saying he needed to take care of something. His sand swept him away without another word. Minako moved to get up, in order to make sure Akito was alright, but Natsumi was already running towards him. "Akito! Akito!" she yelled, stopping in front of him and staring up into his face. "Are you alright Akito?"

He looked up at her, and then away, ashamed at having lost in front of her. He felt like he had let her down for some reason. "Yeah, I'm fine." Then he turned to Toshiro, "Congratulations. I've never lost before." He said, a small smile on his face. He decided then and there that Toshiro would be his rival on the battlefield. He would train hard every day, so that one day, he could defeat the redhead.

Toshiro gave him a thumbs up and made his way over to Minako and Naruto. Natsumi grabbed onto his shirt, her eyes watering. She knew he was lying to her and she hated it. "Akito…"

He looked down at her, a tender expression in his eyes then. He reached out and ruffled her hair. "Don't waste your tears on me squirt. I'll be fine. Now let's go see what's up." He said, giving her a small smile and holding his hand out to her.

She looked down at his hand and gasped, "Oh yeah…I think now would be a good time." She said, sticking her hand in her pocket and pulling out an intricately woven friendship bracelet. It had three different pinks in it and a small crystal charm that matched the one Minako now wore around her neck. "Here," she offered, a small blush settling on her face. "I…made it for you…" she looked down, too embarrassed to meet his eyes now. "Since you know…you seem sad sometimes and…I want you to have something that could maybe make you happy and…feel loved always."

He stared at the bracelet. It was pink. Pink. Boys didn't wear pink. But then he thought about what she had said. This girl cared about him? Even though they had just met the day before? He took the bracelet from her and put it on his right wrist. He looked back up at her, and seeing that she was still looking away, grabbed her hand.

"Thank you…Princess." He said, kissing her hand lightly. He smirked at the startled expression on her face. Then he let go of her and began to walk towards the group. That would be the only time he ever called her that, and only because she had made him a gift. Nobody had ever done that for him before. Well, Minako made him stuff all the time, but they were mostly just pretty pictures, and he had no use for them.

She just stared after him, her face as red as her father's hair. She could feel the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. Toshiro pat Akito on the shoulder, "Hey! Good fight! I hope we can do it again!" then he looked down, noting the pink object around his wrist. "Haha…man what's that pink thing?"

"Your sister made it for me, as a present." Akito said with a shrug, not embarrassed in the least.

Minako ran up to Akito and grabbed his wrist, so she could examine the bracelet better. "Wow Akito-kun! It's really pretty!" she turned his hand in hers so she could get a better look at it.

"Natsumi made it for you?" he gave him a skeptical look. "She doesn't like boys, why would she-" the redhead was instantly covered in a mountain of sand.

"Shut up Toshiro." The pink haired girl glared at the pile, then smiled at her sister and her two friends.

Minako gasped. "Shiro-kun!" she exclaimed, moving to unbury him from the sand, even though he could've done it himself.

Naruto laughed at the kids' antics. He turned to his wife and kissed her on the cheek lightly. "It seems our plans will work out after all." He said softly.

"Damn right they will. I am never wrong when it comes to love." Sakura said, determination on her face.

"Uh, but Sakura-chan-" The blonde began, lifting up a finger.

"Naruto if you say anything about me and Gaara I will punch you so hard you'll miss your coronation." She said, raising a fist.

He lowered his hand immediately. "Yes ma'am." He said, trying to hide behind Hinata.

"Hey mommy, where did daddy go?" Satomi asked, facing her mother and her friends.

Sakura blinked and shrugged, "I don't know, he said he had to go. Now come on, let's go get some celebratory ice cream."

* * *

Angry jade met uncaring onyx. "What the hell is your problem Sasuke?"

"It seems to me that you are the one with the problem Sabaku, not me." Sasuke said, grabbing a tea pot and filling it with water, as if he couldn't care less.

Trying to control his rage, Gaara leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "How could you say something like that to your son, he did a great job."

Sasuke sat the pot on the stove and turned to face the redhead. "I only told him the truth. His performance was lacking, therefore he needs to train harder. Simple as that."

"So you couldn't spare a good word for your son?"

"Encouragement only causes them to become cocky. Cockiness leads to arrogance, and that leads to losing. As long as he believes that he needs improvement, he will continue to become stronger, and therefore, never lose." Sasuke explained, taking the now whistling pot off the stove and pouring himself some tea. He wouldn't bother offering any to the fuming redhead in his kitchen, since he had just shown up in his house after all.

Gaara just laughed darkly, "Yeah. I can't wait for that to come back and smack you in the face. Listen here _Uchiha_, I don't like you, but I don't want you emotionally destroying your child. For once in your irritating life, why don't you think about happiness before getting stronger." He got up from the wall and headed for the door, glancing back. "Maybe you don't recall…but I _lost_ to you in our last fight. And who was the true victor? I'm the one who got Sakura. You lost, because you didn't put your own happiness before your sick obsession." With that Gaara left, shutting the door behind him.

Sasuke took a sip of his tea, and staring at the spot on the wall where Gaara had just been. He understood what the redhead was talking about, but he would not have his son live the life he did. He needed to train him, so that he wouldn't leave the village seeking more power. He wanted his son to be able to defend himself at all times, and if that meant he needed to devote more time to training than playing with his friends, so be it.

But, he supposed he could be a little easier on him. After all, he remembered what it was like for him growing up, always looking for his dad's approval. He wouldn't allow that to happen either. So with a nod, Sasuke decided to try and go easier on his son. Trying was better than not doing anything, after all.


	5. Inauguration

**Quake**

_Chapter Five_

-Inauguration-

"Naruto-kun…why are there feathers all over the bed?" Hinata asked, sitting up in their bed and looking around.

"Hm? Hinata-chan...what are you…? Oh my God!" Naruto yelled, sitting up. There were feathers all over the place and on the floor. Then the blonde looked down at his pillows, and noticed they were flat. He looked over at his wife, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Hehe, sorry Hinata-chan, I guess I must have moved around a lot last night." He said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

She smiled at her husband. "Its fine, we can always buy some more. You were probably just nervous about today." She said, turning to get out of bed. Suddenly strong arms were around her and she was pulled against a warm chest.

"You know, after today you'll be a Hokage's wife. Do you think you can handle it?" he asked huskily in her ear, smirking when he saw the red tint to her cheeks. After being married for so long she was still so shy and innocent, and it made him love her even more.

"Well, I've done a pretty good job of handling a Hokage-to-be, so I should be fine." She said, voice trembling.

He laid her down and propped himself so that he was hovering over her, a devilish smile on his face. "Oh really now? Because I can be quite a handful. I guess you'll just have to show me how well you can handle me huh?" he asked, leaning closer to her red face.

"Um...N-Naruto-kun…Minako will hear…" she stuttered, trying in vain to distract him. She really didn't want her daughter to walk in on them doing _other _things.

He nuzzled her neck affectionately. "No she won't. She stayed up late with the other kids. I'll bet she sleeps in for another hour at least." He said, trailing kisses down the column of her throat, causing his wife to gasp.

Just as he was about to continue, the door to the room was thrown open, causing him to roll off his wife and see who the intruder was.

"Mommy! Daddy! What are you two lazies doing in bed? Daddy has a big day ahead of him, and we don't want to be late." Their daughter said, climbing up on the bed with her parents. She sat herself in her dad's lap and looked down at her mother.

"Mommy are you sick? Your face is a bit red." Minako asked, placing a hand on her mother's forehead, concern on her features.

"No, I'm fine sweetie. It's just a bit hot in here." Hinata said, sitting up and giving Naruto a pointed look.

He gave her a devilish smile. Knowing what the look he was giving her meant, she got out of bed and plucked Minako out of her father's lap. "Come on sweetie. You and mommy need to bathe and make ourselves pretty. Daddy can take care of himself in order to get ready." She said, walking out of the room, Minako running ahead of her.

"Aw, that's so mean Hinata-chan! I wasn't done playing with you!" he yelled, crossing his arms in a pout.

Hinata turned around, a light blush on her cheeks. "That can wait for tonight Naruto-kun. I promise." She said, closing the doors behind her.

"God I love that woman." Naruto said, flopping back onto the bed. He actually was a bit nervous. Would he make a good Hokage? What if he messed up?

He shook his head. He had been waiting his whole life for this, there was no way he was going to mess up. And he had all his friends here with him. Keeping those thoughts in mind, he got out of bed and made his way to the shower. Today was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

"Now presenting, Uzumaki Naruto, candidate chosen to become the Rokudaime Hokage!" Kakashi announced into the microphone.

Naruto walked out onto the balcony of the Hokage Tower, and smiled down to the crowd. He was finally going to Hokage. The ceremony was taking place in front of the tower, and the whole village was there. All the shops had been closed for the day, giving everyone enough time to get ready. There was a lavish red carpet on the balcony, and flowers were decorating the banister.

Gaara and his family lined his right side, while Sasuke and Akito, Tsunade, Kakashi, and his family lined his left side. Tsunade walked up to him then, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"As your Fifth Hokage, I am proud to hand over the Will of Fire to Uzumaki Naruto. He more than deserves it. My years as Hokage were long, and some of the most interesting of my life. But I am ready to retire, so that I may go back to gambling and drinking sake." She said with humor.

The crowd laughed, everyone afraid to say anything that might insult the Sannin. Tsunade waved a hand, silencing the crowd so she could continue. "So today, I, Lady Tsunade the Slug Sannin and Godaime Hokage, pass on the role of Hokage to Uzumaki Naruto. May his reign as Hokage be as interesting, if not more so than mine. And that some annoying brat bothers him constantly the entire time he rules." She said with a chuckle.

Gaara walked up then, and placed his hand on Naruto's other shoulder, as Tsunade went back beside Kakashi. "And I, Sabaku no Gaara, Godaime Kazekage of Suna, officially recognize Uzumaki Naruto as Rokudaime Hokage, and look forward to continuing our alliance." He said, looking out at the crowd. All the villagers cheered then, throwing flowers in the air. The redhead looked at his friend and smiled, "I know you'll do a great job Naruto…I believe you'll be a great Hokage."

"Aw, thanks buddy. It means a lot." The blonde said, wrapping his arm around the redhead's shoulder and pulling him closer in a sideways embrace. Despite the fact that he was uncomfortable, Gaara returned the gesture. "Now!" Naruto shouted, making the redhead twitch from his slight loss of hearing. "I would like to say something! I would like to thank one of my best friends here…Gaara, for inspiring me to become Hokage. I had already dreamt of this day, but Gaara boosted my confidence in the matter."

The Kazekage looked over, a bit honored. But then Naruto continued on, "I mean, it was because of Gaara that I learned…that even the lowest…most hated…tortured abomination…has a shot at being a Kage." Gaara's light mood plummeted. His icy glare focused on the blonde, who was now holding onto his death wish.

Sakura was wide eyed now, along with everyone on the balcony besides Kakashi and Sasuke. _Please hold it in Gaara_, Sakura thought. Maybe it won't be a repeat of the wedding, she hoped in vain.

"If it wasn't for this guy here, I wouldn't have learned that even the villagers that hated and ridiculed me as a poor, lonely child could one day learn to love me. And don't think I don't know who you are." Naruto said, pointing down at the crowd.

Straightening, he smiled once again, releasing his friend. "But fear not Leaf Village, I will not go off and do something stupid like Gaara did. I am fully aware of the dangers of the Akatsuki, and will not let some crazy person kill me. Because really, who lets a criminal kill them? At least the Third sacrificed himself. Who cares if Gaara used the remainder of his chakra to protect the village? Yeah, it was cool, but then he had to go and ruin the moment by dying. Sure, he came back, and that's great. But still, I will not psych you guys out by dying and then coming back, that's just lame." He said, missing the fact that he was now receiving a death glare from Gaara.

That was it. Gaara lurched forward, ready to strangle the blonde from his fury. Strong arms looped through the redhead's, keeping him in place despite his fighting attempts. "Gaara calm down. It's Naruto, what did you expect?" the dark Uchiha said simply, really glad the man was so enraged that he wasn't thinking of using his sand.

"Let me at him Uchiha!"

"Just breathe. You can push him off the balcony later." Sasuke suggested. When Gaara finally calmed down, the dark haired man released him hesitantly. When he didn't make another move for Naruto, Sasuke went back to his son's side. The twins were glaring at the new Hokage now, _no one_ messed with their daddy. Uncle Naruto _would_ pay.

The oblivious blonde continued. "I would also like to thank my beautiful wife, Hinata-chan, and my adorable daughter Minako, for always believing in me." He said, looking back and smiling at his family. He turned back to the crowd. "Well, that's the end of my speech! I guess that means I'm officially the new Hokage!" he announced, stepping up onto the rail and waving his arms in the air.

They all applauded loudly. Finally, as it began to die down, the villagers filed out back into the streets and to their homes to prepare for the night's festivities and parties for the celebration. Still standing on the railing, Naruto yelled loudly, waving his arms madly at _his_ villagers. Gaara came beside him, giving him a sideways glance. "Congratulations Naruto," he nodded, moving away from him then. When he passed by the blondes' back, he gave him a hard shove, sending the new Hokage right over the edge.

The whole balcony went silent and wide eyed as the Kazekage left the perch with his smiling twin daughters, obviously proud of their father. The silence was broken by a dark laugh. They all turned to Sasuke who simply said, "Nice."

Tsunade walked up and looked over. "Hm." She said, then turned to the group and smiled, rubbing her hands together. "Ok, let's go to the party and get some sake." She said, beginning to walk away. Kakashi followed wordlessly.

Sasuke began to walk away, still smirking. "Come Akito." He said, making his way to the door.

The boy followed wordlessly, ignoring the cries of Minako, who had gotten on her tippy toes to look over the railing at her unconscious father. Sakura placed her hand on her son's back and began to lead him away. Hinata walked up to her daughter and picked her up. "Come Minako, your father will be fine."

"Oh I know mommy, I was just making sure that daddy wasn't bleeding. Come on! We still have to get pretty for the party!" she exclaimed, running after Toshiro. Hinata merely shook her head. She wouldn't want her family any other way.

* * *

"Eh, eh, eh!" Sakura shrieked, running after her children and stopping them before they could go into the ballroom. "Freeze, we need to make sure you're all looking flawless." She knelt down before them. She was wearing a black, halter top floor length dress, with a large slit up the right side, stopping at the top of her thigh. Her hair was up in a distinguished bun, silver earrings dangling from her ears. "Come here Toshiro, your tie is crooked." His mother said tightening his red tie and brushing off his tux. "There you go sweetie," she pushed him aside and looked at her daughters. "Satomi what did you do to your hair?" she gave the girl a small glare, taking the fallen clip and pinning up the right side of her hair. She straightened the girl's dress, which was identical to Natsumi's, only hers was red. The dress they wore cut straight across their tops coming back like a halter and tying around their necks. The top was tight but it flowed freely after the waist, short in the front and cascading longer at the back. Both had ballet shoes on, matching their dresses, ribbons lacing up to their knees "Beautiful." She smiled, kissing both their cheeks and straightening up.

Gaara was staring at her oddly, "What?" she demanded, draping her arm around his. "My babies will look perfect." She said simply, giving her crisp, clean husband a kiss on the cheek. Finally they were allowed to go in, joining the evening event. It was a ball for only the nobles and elders and important political figures in Konoha.

"Akito-kun look! Shiro-kun and everyone are here!" Minako squealed, shaking his arm excitedly. He looked over at the door, forest green eyes zeroing in on Natsumi. His attention was turned back to his best friend, who was messing with her dress. It was sky blue in color, and made of silk, that was tight across the top, and flowed loosely at the bottom, making her look like a pixie. It cut straight across the front, with a darker blue ribbon tying across her midsection and ending with a bow in the back. It had two thick straps that were the same color as the ribbon. "Do I look okay Akito-kun?" she asked, bringing her hands to her short locks, which were curled into little ringlets.

He looked into her worried eyes and smirked. Grabbing her hands and bringing them away from her hair. "You look fine Minako." He sighed. Why did girls care so much about their appearance?

Suddenly the doors burst open, and Naruto walked in, wearing a smooth black tuxedo with an orange bowtie. "Don't worry!" the blonde yelled, voice full of sarcasm. "I'm okay! Not that you guys care or anything!" he said, walking into the room.

He went straight for his wife, who was looking elegant in a lavender dress that matched her eyes. It hung loosely around her torso, with a large strap coming across her front and tying on her right shoulder, the rest of the dress flowing freely to the floor. Her hair was done in an elegant twist, loose strands cascading around her face and down her back.

When he reached her, he grabbed her, pulling her to him in a fierce kiss. He pulled away and smiled into her blushing face. "I'll punish _you_ later." He whispered huskily. Then he turned and began to talk to Sasuke.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. So like Naruto. She and Gaara made their way towards the group, their children following. Akito adjusted his navy blue bowtie nervously. He walked up to Natsumi and held his hand out to her. "You wanna dance?" he asked, an unsure look in his eyes. This was what guys were supposed to do at theses fancy things right? He wasn't sure, because he'd never been to one before.

Natsumi looked at his hand, her eyes a bit wide. Her face began to heat up, exposing her embarrassment. She looked up at her father, who happened to be staring them down. Without waiting for his approval, she placed her hand in Akito's and smiled at him. "Yes!"

Toshiro watched them both, arching a brow. That was weird. Why did Akito ask his lame little sister to dance? He looked over at Minako, seeing her for the first time that evening. "Wow!" he gasped, walking up to the girl and smiling at her. "Minako you look so pretty, I mean not that you don't always look pretty," he blushed, rubbing the back of his head. He hoped he hadn't offended her. He was so much like Sakura, very self-conscious about is words and actions.

Her face turned crimson at his compliment. "Thank you Shiro-kun. You look very handsome as well." She said, wringing her hands behind her back nervously.

Sakura began to shake Gaara's arm excitedly, looking down at the two kids. In attempt to silence his woman, Gaara took Sakura's hand and led her out to the center floor, pressing her body against his and slowly beginning to dance with her. "Just be quiet my love," he smiled, lowering his lips beneath her ear and kissing her softly.

Watching his father, he grabbed Minako's hand and pulled her with him to the dance floor. He looked over at his father and mother, trying to mimic their pose. He pressed Minako against his front and smiled down at her, trying to pick up the steps. Considering whom his parents were, he picked up extremely fast. Seeing his parent's actions, he leaned down as well and whispered into the young girl's ear, "Hi Minako."

"H-hi Shiro-kun." She stuttered, mimicking his movements.

On another part of the dance floor, Akito twirled Natsumi around in circles, mimicking what he had read that princes did when dancing with their princess'. Not wanting her to become dizzy too quickly, he dipped her and brought his face close to hers, giving her a genuine smile. "You look really nice." He said softly.

Her blush intensified, she could feel his breath on her face and she was becoming extremely nervous. She had never been like this with _anyone_ and it kind of scared her. Her grip on him tightened, as if she were afraid he would let go and all this would vanish. She could feel her head becoming lighter and the room began to spin. She wasn't dizzy, but she didn't understand what was happening. "I need air," she whispered softly. Her clasp tightened even more, "Can you take me out on the balcony?"

He stood up, bringing her with him, concern in his eyes. "Of course." He said, he looped his arm with hers, feeling fancy as he did so. Leading her out onto the balcony, he turned to her. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked, worriedly.

She looked ill now, her face pale. "Something's wrong," she whispered falling into his chest. Instantly he wrapped his arms around her.

"Natsumi?" he said, his worry growing with every second. "Do you want me to get your mom?" he asked, not really knowing what to do.

"No!" she screamed, going wide eyed then and quickly apologizing. "I…I didn't mean to yell." She told him sincerely. "Just please…don't leave." She leaned her forehead on his chest then and tried to breathe evenly. "I'm sorry," she said again. "Sometimes I just get these…well my mom calls them premonition feelings, but that's crazy, right?" she looked up at him, trying to laugh.

He looked down at her, completely serious. "No, I don't think it's crazy. It could really help you out when you get older." Then he brought his hand up and felt her forehead. "Your face is a little warm. Are you sure you don't want me to get you some water or something? What does your mom do when you have these…uh…premonitions?" he asked, wanting to do anything to help her.

She stared up at him and hesitantly spoke, "Well, she lets me sit in her lap and lay against her. Then she runs her fingers through my hair until I feel better." She went an even darker shade of red, imagining the young Uchiha doing this action.

His eyes widened at this. It sounded so…girly. But, if it would make her feel better, he would do it. "Okay." He said. Before she could speak he sat down, putting his back against the railing of the balcony. He looked up into her startled eyes, and opened his arms, beckoning for her to join him.

She stared at him in shock. She shouldn't, but she wanted to. Slowly, she sat in his lap, placing her legs over his and pressing her cheek flat against his chest. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, suddenly relaxing once his fingertips caressed her head.

Two sets of eyes peered through the glass door, Toshiro blinked and pulled away then. "What are they doing?" he asked the dark haired girl beside him.

"I don't know. Akito-kun has never done anything like that for me." She said, brow scrunched in confusion. Akito was _her_ best friend. So why was he doing that for someone he had just met, when she had known him her whole life? Then she realized it. She was jealous of her new friend. Part of her felt ashamed of the feeling, but another part of her knew that it was justified. He was _hers_ first after all.

Natsumi snuggled comfortably closer to Akito. His touch was so nervous, but tender and caring. This was odd, she had only met him a few days ago, yet she felt secure with him. Boldly she took his free hand and pressed it against her cheek. He began to stroke her cheek as well, thinking that maybe she needed more comfort. It was odd, he had never done anything like this before, but he felt peaceful.

Minako's eyes narrowed angrily. Not only was she upset that this was happening, she was upset because she had never felt such anger before, and that only made her angrier. With a huff she turned away from the window and began to walk away.

Toshiro blinked and looked at the scene once more. He couldn't help the drop in his stomach. He wasn't really comfortable with Akito touching his sister in such a way, but he also didn't like Minako's reaction. He followed her to make sure she was alright, tapping her shoulder he blinked. "Minako. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing Shiro-kun." She said, looking away in shame. She felt like a horrible person for thinking mean things about her friends.

"Are you sure?" he walked around her, getting a good look at her face. She still seemed sad. But before he could add anything else Gaara walked up, looking around.

"Toshiro, where's Natsumi? I can't find her and she's not with Satomi." He said, noting the depressed girl.

Minako instantly perked up. She looked up at the taller redhead and smiled. "Gaara-sama, I saw Natsumi-chan on the balcony sitting in Akito-kun's lap."

Gaara went wide eyed, his left eye twitching slightly. "What?" before they could answer he was gone. Toshiro blinked and stared at Minako,

"Why did you tell him that? He's going to kill Akito!" he gave the dark haired girl a small glare and hurried after his father to see what would happen.

The Kazekage threw the doors to the balcony open, startling the two innocent kids. "What in the _world_ do you think you're doing?!" he yelled, his glare focused on the small Uchiha.

He dropped his hands, dark green eyes wide. "I was just trying to make her feel better!" he said honestly, not understanding why he was in trouble. His eyes got wider when he saw that his father had joined the Kazekage in the doorway.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, staring at the children.

"I don't know." Gaara said darkly, his anger surprisingly not shifting from the younger man. Now he had an ally, another father. "Natsumi. Get over here now." He pointed to the ground beside him.

The pink haired girl gripped more tightly onto the younger Uchiha, rebelling silently against her father. The feeling was coming back and she didn't want to start freaking out in front of Akito's dad.

Sensing her distress, Akito brought his hand up and began to rub her back comfortingly. "It's okay Natsumi, I'm here." He said, ignoring the glare being sent his way.

Sasuke just watched the scene, confused. His son never did anything nice for others. Well, he did, but only small things, and usually only for Minako. It appeared that this girl was important to his son, for whatever reason. So he decided to remain in order to ensure that the temperamental redhead next to him didn't kill his only child.

Natsumi buried her face in Akito's chest, already starting to hyperventilate. This situation wasn't helping the awful feeling that washed over her once more. Gaara took a step forward, ready to get this _boy's_ hands off his precious little girl.

Sakura appeared then. Seeing the scene before her, she was glad that Toshiro had come and gotten her. She walked so that she was next to her husband. "What's going on?" she asked, noticing then her daughter's condition.

"What do you mean, 'What's going on?' can't you see what's going on? That _boy_ is getting too friendly with our daughter." He glared at his intervening wife, ready to get his daughter once more.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Gaara, they're just _children_. Can't you see that he's comforting our daughter in her time of need? You know what? Go back inside and talk to Naruto or something, I'll handle things here." She said, pointing back inside the ballroom.

He opened his mouth to object, but Sakura pointed off into the ballroom. "Go!" she ordered. With a final glare he left, glancing back every now and then until he disappeared into the crowd. Sasuke left with the redhead, not concerned now that Sakura was there to handle everything.

By now Natsumi was silently crying into Akito's shirt, she felt so stupid. This whole scene was her fault, her and her stupid presentiment feelings. "I'm sorry," she whispered so only he could hear.

"It's okay." He said, pulling her closer and stroking her head. "Are you feeling better?" he asked, still concerned.

She stayed close, nodding. "Yeah a little. I didn't mean to…I'm sorry. I feel so silly now…and weak," she glanced down then. She was weak. She couldn't even control her own body from reacting to her mind.

"Don't be sorry. Whenever you need me to make you feel better Natsumi, I'll be there for you." He said, trying to reassure her.

She stared up at him, her eyes watering once more. "Really?" she asked, taking his hand. She felt something on his wrist and looked down. Hiding under his white dress shirt was the bracelet she had made him. She gasped and smiled brightly, holding his wrist lovingly. "You're still wearing it!"

He couldn't suppress the light blush that dusted his cheeks. "Well, you made it for me to wear, so why wouldn't I?" he asked.

She laughed as well, "I know but…I guess I didn't really think you'd wear it…at least not all the time." It was her turn now to blush.

He smiled at her. "I will wear it if it makes you smile."

"As long as you wear it, I'll be able to smile." she promised sweetly.

"Deal." He said, still smiling. He looked up then, and saw that Natsumi's mom had left them alone. He looked back down at her. "Are you ready to go back inside? Or do you want to stay out here longer?" he asked, not caring either way.

"I think we'll cause less panic if we go inside." She said, moving to get up and feeling Akito's hands reassuringly on her side and back.

Minako watched from her hiding spot next to the window, tears in her eyes. She was a horrible person. Her plan didn't even work, and now she was sure Toshiro was mad at her. She couldn't forget the glare he had sent her way a few minutes before. She had never felt so bad in her entire seven years.

Not wanting to get caught by her friends, she crawled underneath the refreshments table and sat down, wrapping her arms around her legs. She didn't mean to make so many people upset, she was only trying to get them apart. Nothing she ever did was right, everything she tried to do ended in disaster. She sniffled, trying to stay quiet so that nobody would discover her hiding place.

Entering the room, Akito looked around. "Where's Minako?" he asked, not seeing his friend anywhere.

Natsumi glanced around, searching for her friend as well. "I dunno, let's split up and find her." She suggested and walked off, peeking around crowds of people.

Akito began to walk around. After a few seconds he figured that she was hiding. She had a penchant for finding places to hide where nobody would be likely to find her. He walked over to the refreshment table and paused. Hearing a soft sniffle, he picked up the tablecloth and peered inside. Finding his friend, he crawled under the table and sat next to her.

"Minako? What's wrong?" he asked, worried because she was crying. "Why are you crying?"

She sniffed, red-rimmed eyes looking over at her best friend. "Akito-kun am I a horrible person?" she asked, eyes beginning to water.

His brow scrunched in confusion. "No, I think you're a great person. You're nice to everyone, and never do anything mean." He said honestly.

This only caused her to begin crying again. How could he think such nice things of her when she had done something so terrible? Not knowing what to do, he scooted closer to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and began to pat it, trying to comfort her.

A familiar redheaded Kazekage went over to the table, needing a drink to try and calm his nerves. He had stupidly thought coming to Konoha for this was a good idea. Why on earth did he ever think that? He grabbed a cup, filling it with some of the punch. He stopped then, hearing something from beneath the table. Curiously, he kneeled down and lifted the cloth, seeing the duo. Irritation flashed across his face, "Oh what Akito? Now you're off with Minako?"

Before anything more could be said Gaara was yanked away from the table by the back of his collar. He turned to see who would dare do such a thing, when he was met with the angry emerald eyes of his wife. "Gaara, knock it off! Could you not see that poor little Minako was crying? God, you're so insensitive!" she said angrily.

"He's under a _table_ Sakura! How is that not suspicious?!" he growled, being pulled away then.

"Because they're children! How many times do I have to say that?" she asked, becoming exasperated with her husband. He was so irrational when he was being overprotective.

Hearing the arguing going on, Minako continued to cry. Trying to get her to stop, Akito wrapped his arm around her and began to rub her other shoulder. She turned her head in response, crying into his shoulder.

The attention that Gaara had now drawn to the table attracted the searching Natsumi. She went over to the table, wondering what had caused her father such distress. The noises she started to hear were coming from below so inquisitively she lifted the table cloth and peered beneath. The scene made her go wide eyed and drop the fabric, but not before Akito saw her.

She could feel the tears swelling in her eyes and before she saw any more she ran off quickly, her sand beginning to react with her chaotic emotions. Both Gaara and Toshiro pushed through the crowd just in time to see Natsumi disappear from the room in a sudden gust.

Akito wanted to call out to her, for reasons unknown to him. But Minako needed him right now, and as her best friend it was his duty to make sure that she was alright. By now Naruto and Hinata had come over to the table, wondering what was going on. He looked underneath and saw his distressed daughter with Akito.

"Akito, what's going on?" he asked, wondering why his little girl was so upset.

"I don't know sir, she just started crying, and I can't seem to make her feel better." The boy replied honestly.

Naruto crawled under the table, telling the boy he could leave. Taking his daughter in his arms, he began to stroke her curls. "Now sweetie, why don't you tell daddy what's wrong." He said, wanting to help her.

She began to hiccup she was so upset. She told him about what had happened with Akito and Natsumi, leaving out that she was jealous. "And now everyone is upset and it's all my fault! Even Shiro-kun is mad at me!" she exclaimed, burying her face in her father's suit in shame.

Naruto's eyes were considerably wide by now. Why did girls have to have so many emotions? Not that he was much better, since he tended to get a bit emotional himself. "Honey, it's not your fault, and I don't think Toshiro is mad at you. The whole thing was just a misunderstanding. I bet by the morning things will be better." He said, rubbing her back.

Watery eyes so much like his own looked up at him then, full of hope. "Really?" she asked.

"Really. Now come on. It's been a long day and you need to get to bed." He said, beginning to crawl out from underneath the table.

"Yes daddy." She said, not arguing with him for once. After all that crying, she was tired.

Akito looked around the room, unable to find Natsumi, Toshiro, or the Kazekage. Before he could look any more, his father was before him. "Come Akito, it's time to leave."

He wanted to argue with his father, but knew that it would be pointless. And he would only be punished for talking back to him. "Yes father." He said, following Sasuke out of the room.

* * *

Gaara knocked lightly on the door to his daughter's room. "Natsumi please come out…come tell daddy what's wrong."

"I don't wanna!" was the only reply the crying girl gave. Toshiro sighed, making his father look down. He simply shrugged, not knowing what to do in this type of situation. Natsumi lay on her bed, unchanged, and sobbing. She was so miserably upset. She had thought she was special to Akito, how he comforted her, but he was comforting Minako just like he had her. Well…not exactly, but still. She faced the wall, letting her tears hit her pillow. It escaped her as to why Minako had been crying and she didn't understand why she was angry that Akito had been like that with her. She pulled her pillow closer, hugging it tightly, trying in vain to picture it as Akito.

The front door opened then and Sakura and Satomi walked in, "Where have you been? Where's Natsumi?" Sakura asked, looking at her two men.

"Something's wrong with her and she won't tell me," Gaara pointed towards the door, letting out a defeated sigh. Natsumi's sand was preventing either him or Toshiro from appearing inside.

Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed her husband aside, sometimes only a mother could have the right touch. "Natsumi? Sweetie," Sakura called, giving the door a light knock. "Its mommy, baby what's wrong?"

Instantly the door flew open and Natsumi wrapped her arms tightly around her mother's legs. "Mommy!" she cried out. The medic picked her daughter up and held her tightly.

"It's okay baby, mommy's here." She cooed, walking back into the room with Satomi following silently. The door shut behind the girls, leaving both Gaara and Toshiro astounded.

"Well that was weird," the younger redhead said. "Usually Natsumi wants you dad." He laughed, taking this moment to leave and go to bed.

Gaara sighed and decided to let Sakura handle this. He went to their room and started readying for bed.

Sakura sat on the bed, cradling Natsumi in her arms. Satomi just ignored them and began to get ready for bed. Running her fingers through her daughter's hair, Sakura began to make comforting noises, trying to get her daughter to settle down.

"Now tell me sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked tenderly.

She sniffed, trying to get her voice steady. "W-well me and Akito were looking for Minako because she was missing and when I saw you and daddy looking under the table I went over there." She explained, leaning closer to her mother. "And Akito was with Minako and I'm upset about it, but I don't know why. I like Minako, but it made me mad that Akito was with her."

Sakura smiled a sad smile. Perhaps her daughter's crush was a bit more serious then she had thought. She began to rock back and forth, pulling out all the tricks to calm her daughter down. "Well, sweetie, Akito was probably just trying to make Minako feel better, just like he was doing for you. You have to remember that Akito and Minako have grown up together and are probably really close. So you'll just have to get used to sharing him." She said, knowing that this wasn't what her daughter would want to hear, but it needed to be explained.

"But I don't want to share him!" Natsumi practically yelled. "Why does Minako get attention from both Toshiro _and_ Akito! That's not fair! She can't like Toshiro and then like Akito too!"

"Natsumi if you're so upset about it than why don't you just tell Minako?" Satomi said simply, crawling into her bed since she was now in her pajamas.

"Baby, you don't know if Minako likes Akito or not. Her relationship with him could be like mine and Uncle Naruto's. We are so close that he is like a brother to me. And since Minako doesn't have any siblings to play with or get attention from, Akito is the one she goes to. You are lucky that you have Satomi and Toshiro here with you. And eventually a little baby brother." she said, brushing the hair out of her daughter's eyes.

"I dunno mom," Satomi said, "Minako was the one who told dad about Akito and Natsumi. Maybe she does like him and she was just jealous?" she shrugged and snuggled into her sheets. "Good night." she yawned and turned her back to the two.

Sakura sighed. She shouldn't have to deal with boy drama until the girls were at _least_ twelve. And even then she could wait. "Whatever the case, you have to think of poor Akito. He has to be feeling really confused. Trust me, he's an Uchiha. They don't do very well with girls and emotions." She said, thinking back on all those times with Sasuke.

"Whatever," Natsumi grumbled, crawling from her mother's arms and changing quickly into her pajamas, "Boys are stupid." She said, getting back onto her bed and hugging her mother. "Good night mommy."

Sakura smiled and picked her daughter up, tucking her in then and kissing her forehead. "Good night my little ones." She said sweetly, kissing Satomi's forehead next. "Don't worry Natsumi," Sakura smiled as she headed for the door. "You're just worrying too much." And with that Sakura left the twins, flipping off the light, and shutting their door behind her. Satomi turned over in her bed so she could see her sister.

"You know Minako likes Akito." Satomi whispered.

"I know. And Toshiro," she huffed.

"Yeah I know. Well, why don't you just get Toshiro to be the one she can cry on. Then you don't have to share Akito with anyone."

Natsumi smiled at the thought. That was perfect! Genius! It couldn't possibly go wrong. "You're right Satomi. Well goodnight," the younger twin smiled and snuggled into her bed.

"Night." the other yawned, and the two fell asleep.


	6. The Start

**Quake**

_Chapter Six_

-The Start-

A loud yawn came from a stretching pink haired girl. Natsumi rolled onto her side and looked out the window, it was morning. She sat up abruptly. Today was the day she began her mission. She was out of bed in an instant, pulling on her sister's arm until she was awake as well. "What?" Satomi groaned, turning her head away from her sister. "Go away," she mumbled almost incoherently.

"Satomi! Wake up, today we have to make Minako go to Toshiro for comfort and not Akito." She said, giving her sister another sharp pull.

"What's all this _we_ stuff? I don't care, I don't even like him." She said, finally sitting up from bed.

Natsumi let her face form into a pout, "Please Satomi, I can't do it by myself!"

With a roll of her eyes Satomi got out of bed, "Fine, whatever." She agreed.

With a small cheer the two disappeared into the bathroom so they could shower and get ready for their plan. Once they were out and dressed in matching outfits, they dashed to their brother's room. Without as much as a knock they ran in giggling, pulling their brother out of his bed. He hit the floor with a thump and groaned. God he hated his sisters sometimes. "What do you want?" he demanded, getting up slowly.

"Come on Toshiro!"

"We want to go play with Minako!"

They both smiled, no hint of evil in their faces. He stared at them suspiciously, "Then why can't you just go?"

"You know how dad will get."

"Come with us."

They always started finishing one another's sentences and it became real annoying, real fast. "Ok, ok." He said, getting them to stop before they could continue.

"YAY!" they yelled, running from the room so Toshiro could get ready.

It didn't take long for the boy to get dressed, since he really didn't care. When he came out he was tackled in a vicious mass of pink. "Let's go!" they screamed in his face, dragging him up and forcing him out the door. They didn't need to tell their parents they were leaving. Sakura knew Konoha was safe with so many friends around.

The trio walked down the streets of the busy village, both twins searching for something. It had been awhile since they started their search, they were walking past a park when Satomi glanced over and saw their target. She nudged Natsumi and pointed towards a swing set nearby. Minako was swinging by herself. She looked distressed and was playing with the charm around her neck.

Toshiro stopped, spotting the girl they were looking for, but when he turned around his sisters were gone. He arched a brow and looked around the area. Focusing back on the dark haired girl, he could tell something was wrong. So, he decided to go see what it was. He stopped his advance right in front of the swing set and watched her. "You okay Minako?"

Minako looked up in surprise, and she immediately dropped the charm she had been fiddling with, letting it hang at her neck. "It's nothing Shiro-kun, I was just thinking." She said, voice solemn.

He gave her a bright smile, "Come on Minako, you can tell me. My mom always says that if you talk about what's on your mind, it really helps you feel better." He went to the swing beside hers and sat down, starting to push himself with his feet. "So, what's up? You seemed real upset at the party too."

She gripped the chains holding the swing to the beams and looked at the ground, ashamed. "That's what my daddy says, but I talked to him about it last night and I don't feel better." She said, blue eyes beginning to water.

"Well maybe you didn't tell him everything that was bothering you then," he suggested, started to go higher on his swinging.

She began to kick the ground, moving the dirt with her foot. Should she tell him everything? She wanted to, but what if he just got even madder at her? And why was he being so nice right now? She took a fortifying breath, and began, talking in a rush.

"It's just, Akito-kun has never done anything like that for me, and he was my friend first! I mean, Akito-kun doesn't like it when people touch him, but he was holding Natsumi-chan! And then I was jealous of Natsumi-chan, so I told your daddy what happened, wanting them to stop. And then everybody got upset and angry, and I only made things worse. And you're mad at me, and I'm a horrible person, and…and…" by now she was crying so hard that her vision was blurry, and she was starting to hiccup she was so upset.

Toshiro slowly stopped, looking over at her. "I'm not mad at you. It's just it's really bad when my dad gets worked up and I don't like to deal with it. So it was a little irritating, but everything worked out alright, cause' I went and got my mom." He gave her another smile. He was glad he had found her, he didn't like when anyone was sad, especially if they were a friend. "And, about Akito and Natsumi, how do you know that Natsumi isn't Akito's special person? And that's why he acted like that."

She sniffed, and looked over at him. "Special person? You mean like my mommy is to my daddy?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Yeah! And how my mommy is to my daddy. My dad told me that sometimes you don't realize who your special person is until way later on. Because my dad tried to kill my mom when they were kids." He nodded, and then he got up and walked in front of her. "So you never know, it's just a thing that happens! And I know you're kinda sad because you're a girl and now you're getting less attention, but would you want to keep special people apart?" he shook his head, "No, because think, if someone had kept your mom and dad away from each other, you wouldn't be here!"

"And besides, why are you jealous? Do you like Akito or something?"

Her eyes widened at this. She didn't like Akito that way, she liked Toshiro. But she couldn't tell him that. "No! Akito-kun is like a brother to me!" she exclaimed, brow scrunching. Then a dejected look came over her face then, and she looked back at the ground. "But that still doesn't change the fact that I'm a horrible person. What kind of friend does that?! A bad one, that's what. Natsumi-chan is probably really upset because of me." She said, tears coming back to her eyes.

"I seriously doubt that." He laughed, "Natsumi is always happy. You should just talk to her, I'm sure she's not mad." He lent his hand down to her and when she took it he helped her up to her feet. "Actually they were looking for you, but they disappeared so I don't know where they went to."

A familiar dark haired boy was walking alongside the fence to the park. "Hey Akito!" Toshiro called over, waving his hand in the air to get his attention.

Natsumi went wide eyed from their hiding spot, "What's Akito doing here?!" she nearly yelled, but Satomi's hands were instantly over her mouth.

"Just calm down. Maybe he'll go away." She whispered, looking back down from their tree that was pretty far off. At least none of them would sense their hidden chakra.

Akito walked over to his two friends. He looked at Minako and raised a brow. "Are you okay Minako?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, Shiro-kun made me feel better." She said, giving the redhead a bright smile. Then she turned back to her friend. "What are you doing here Akito-kun?" she asked, raising a brow.

"I was looking for Natsumi. She looked upset last night, and I couldn't find her before my dad made me leave. Have you guys seen her?" he asked, looking around to make sure he hadn't overlooked her when he walked up.

Toshiro shook his head, "She was with me just awhile ago and then her and Satomi disappeared all of a sudden." He shrugged and then laughed, "Maybe they were kidnapped," he joked.

Forest green eyes widened. "What?! Natsumi was kidnapped?! By who? Tell me which way they went, and I'll kill them." He said looking from side to side.

Satomi's eye twitched as she tried to hide her irritation. Natsumi leaned forward in the tree, a bright smile on her face. She felt all warm and fuzzy inside now. "Hehe," she giggled. And in a wave of anger, Satomi shoved her out of the tree.

She hit the ground with a loud yell that attracted all the attention of the three in the park with her. Akito's eyes widened even more. If she was in that tree the whole time, then that meant she had heard him. Was she just playing a huge joke on everybody?!

Minako ran over to her friend. Kneeling down, she asked, "Natsumi-chan! Are you alright?"

Toshiro ran after Minako and looked down at his sister. "Are you ok Natsumi?" he repeated Minako's question. She shook her head slowly, tears were already flowing down her face.

"My knee hurts," she said softly, trying to stop the streams coming from her eyes. Toshiro pushed her Capri's up and saw her bloodied knee.

"Natsumi!" he gasped, focusing his chakra to his hand and placing his palm on her knee. "You were probably hiding, trying to jump out and scare us weren't you? You have to be more careful." He told her, sounding like a protective brother.

Minako watched in awe as Natsumi's knee was healed. "Wow Shiro-kun, that's really cool!" she exclaimed, fascinated.

Akito walked over slowly, his indifferent façade already in place. He stopped behind Minako, and watched the green chakra flow from his friend's hands. Then he looked over at Natsumi, concern appearing in his eyes at the sight of her tears.

"I'm sorry," Natsumi apologized, sniffing and trying to wipe her tears away. When Toshiro moved his hands away her knee was completely healed.

"Sorry for what?" Minako asked, confused.

"I didn't mean to fall…" she looked down now, embarrassed, unable to even look at Akito's feet. "I'm sorry for making you worry."

Akito walked around to her other side and knelt down next to her. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean to fall. Besides, everybody plays jokes on others every once in a while. Just ask Minako, she pranks people all the time." He said with a small smile, trying to comfort the girl.

She looked over at him. She wanted nothing more than to cling onto him, but she knew that the reaction she would get was probably not what she would want. Toshiro and Minako were around this time, and she didn't know what Akito would do.

"Hey," Toshiro smiled. "How about we all go get some ice cream? That'll make everyone feel better." He looked over at Minako, holding his hand out for her.

She smiled and took his hand eagerly. "Okay!" she said excitedly.

Akito stood up and held his hand down to Natsumi, mimicking his friend's actions. "Come on squirt." He said, smiling at her.

Hesitantly she placed hers in his and let him help her up. Images of the night before kept coming back. The thought made her sad. She didn't know if he was just being nice to her because she was the Kazekage's daughter, or Toshiro's sister. What if he really did like Minako? She stared down, walking with him after the two happy children ahead of them.

He looked over at her and raised a brow. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit sad. I didn't do anything to upset you did I?" he asked, giving her a worried look.

"Huh?" she blinked, shaking her head. "I'm okay." She lied. "No you didn't do anything…"

Toshiro glanced back at the two and then looked at Minako, hoping she wouldn't get upset this time. He wanted her to be happy and he wanted to have fun with her and Akito and his sister. "Whoa," Toshiro stopped. "Where's Satomi?" he asked.

Natsumi looked forward then at her brother and shrugged, "I don't know. She disappeared, probably went back home. You know how she is."

"Oh, oh." He nodded and returned his gaze to Minako, daring her to a race.

She accepted his dare, shoving him playfully and running off while he recovered, giggling the whole time.

Akito watched them run off and turned back to Natsumi. He knew that she was lying to him, he just didn't know why. "Natsumi…I can't make you feel better if I don't know what's wrong." He said, concern evident in his voice.

"I'm not lying," she stopped, going a bit red. God she _was_ an awful liar.

An irritated look came over his face then. "Well if you're not lying about being upset then why do you look depressed? If you don't want to tell me then that's fine, I just thought we were friends. And that's what friends do. They tell each other what's wrong."

She went wide eyed and looked away from him. Now she felt bad for lying to him. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, playing nervously with her fingers. She couldn't look at his face now and was content with focusing on a rock by his foot. "Last night I got upset…and sad." She finally admitted.

"About what? Did you have another premonition thingy?" he asked, glad that she was finally talking to him.

"No, no. It wasn't something like that." She shook her head and finally met his dark green gaze. "When you were under the table with Minako…I got angry." She admitted. She felt bad, but it was true, and she had been hurt.

"Why? Minako was upset, and I couldn't just leave her there. Her dad would've gotten really mad at me if I did." He admitted, not wanting to think of what his crazy uncle would have done to him if he found out that Akito had just left her under the table. Alone and upset.

"It doesn't matter." She suddenly got defensive, a small glare forming.

"It matters to me." He said, returning her glare.

She blinked, her guarded expression and stance gone. "Why?"

"Well…because." He said, blinking back at her, not wanting to admit his real reason.

"Because why?" she gave him an encouraging look. She wanted him to continue. She stepped closer to him, placing her free hand over their joined digits.

A light pink dusted his cheeks then. He had to tell her now. It wasn't fair to make her tell him and then not do the same. "Because…I…care." He said softly, looking away from her in embarrassment.

A bright smile replaced her brooding face instantly, and suddenly her arms were wrapped tightly around him. "I was jealous," she told him eagerly, not even ashamed anymore.

He wrapped his arms around her hesitantly, a startled expression on her face. She had been jealous that he was comforting Minako? Girls just didn't make any sense to him. "You shouldn't be." He said. He really didn't want to have to go through this every time he and Minako hung out or something. She was just like a sister to him anyways.

"I know," she pulled away from him, looking down. "I don't know why I was, I'm usually not like that. So I really just don't understand what happened." She said, trying to sound happy. She looked up, giving him a pained smile.

He gave her a reassuring smile. "People do things they don't understand all the time. At least, that's what my father said." He told her, hoping it would make her feel better.

She nodded and looked off to where Minako and Toshiro had disappeared, "We should probably go now or they might get worried."

"I bet I can get to the ice cream stand before you do." He challenged, smiling at her.

She arched a delicate brow, "I'm just a little girl." She pouted, a smirk playing on her lips though, and he could tell. "Fine. Go!" she yelled, laughing deviously as she took off down the street, but when he moved to run, he found out his feet were anchored to the ground with sand.

His shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the real Akito took off after the pink haired girl, sending chakra into his feet in order to go faster. He was not one to be beaten by a girl, especially one so small. He formed the hand signs for another clone, and when it appeared, he had the clone tackle her to the ground. He sent a triumphant smirk her way when he ran past her, the ice cream stand coming into view.

Sand exploded from the clone and from the air Natsumi appeared, a panicked look flashing across her face. She had transported herself too high. She yelled, falling straight for the raven haired boy, "Akito!" she yelled, trying to brace herself for impact.

He stopped and looked up, catching the falling girl just in time, stumbling backwards from the impact. "Are you okay?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

She held onto him tightly, wide eyed and still a little shocked from his quick movements. "Yeah," she finally nodded and stared up at him. They stayed like that until Toshiro and Minako ran up from the cart, both holding an ice cream.

"What's taking you two so long?!" Minako asked, taking a lick of her vanilla cone.

"Sorry," Natsumi blinked, remaining comfortably in Akito's arms.

Toshiro arched his brow, looking between the two. Realizing that he was still holding Natsumi, Akito put her down, leaving one hand on her elbow and another on her back for support. "Natsumi fell, so I caught her." Akito explained, trying not to be embarrassed.

"Oh, I see. Well thanks Akito," Toshiro smiled sincerely. "Natsumi can't quite control her sand yet, so sometimes she's a bit off on transporting herself." He nodded, taking a bit out of his ice cream and then yelling from the instant brain freeze.

"Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth Shiro-kun! My mommy said that really helps!" Minako said, trying to be helpful.

Akito grabbed Natsumi's hand and walked her over to the ice cream cart. "What would you like?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"I don't know," she said honestly. She had only had salty ice cream before and only heard of the sweet kind from her mother.

He turned to the vendor. "I want strawberry please." He said, and then turned back to the girl next to him. "We have fruit flavored ones here, if you like that." He suggested, not really sure what her tastes were. He didn't really like sweets, and had only asked for strawberry because it reminded him of Natsumi's hair.

"Um…well I guess," she looked over the cart, seeing the different colors. "How about…that one." She pointed at an orange ice cream.

The vendor handed them their ice cream, and Akito paid him. He took a small lick, eyes widening in surprise at the taste. It actually wasn't that bad. He looked over at his companion. "How does it taste?" he asked, wondering if she was happy with what she had chosen.

She mimicked his actions and smiled happily. "It's good." She nodded, looking up at him and then at his. "What does yours taste like?" she wondered.

He lowered his cone to her level and she took a taste. "Yours is good too Akito!" she laughed, not realizing that some of the pink ice cream had gotten onto her nose.

He smiled at her actions. Then he licked his thumb, and wiped the ice cream off of her nose. "You got some on your nose." He said by way of explanation.

A dark blush settled on her face then. Toshiro walked over, eyeing Akito suspiciously. "Dude…what are you doing?"

"She had ice cream on her nose. I couldn't let her just walk around with it on her face all day now could I?" he asked defensively. Then he took a lick of his ice cream.

The redhead rolled his eyes, "Yeah it's called telling her. Unless of course, you wanted to do it, because you like her." He said simply, returning to his delicious treat. Natsumi went blood red at this. She couldn't imagine it was true, since she had only met him a couple days ago.

As Akito began to sputter, trying to come up with something to say, the group heard a cry. It was Minako, whose ice cream had fallen off of her cone and onto the ground. "My ice cream!" she exclaimed, staring at the splattered dessert.

Natsumi hurried over to her friend then and kneeled beside her. "Aw Minako, why'd you drop it?" she asked.

Toshiro came beside the two and sighed, "Here Minako you can have mine if you want." He said offering his to her and trying to keep a comforting smile on his face.

She looked at the redhead in surprise. "You don't have to give it to me if you don't want to Shiro-kun. I can just go get another one." She said, not wanting to take his treat from him.

"It's no big deal Minako," he offered once more. Natsumi blinked and just ate hers, glad she didn't have to share.

"Okay." She said taking his chocolate cone and giving it a small lick. "Wow Shiro-kun! This tastes so much different than vanilla!" she said with a smile.

"That's because it's chocolate Minako. They're supposed to taste different." Akito said, walking over to them. He was glad that the attention was directed at her now, instead of him.

"So, I've never had chocolate before Akito-kun. Don't be mean just because Shiro-kun embarrassed you." She said, pouting. Akito just turned to the side and focused on his ice cream.

Natsumi blinked and looked between the two. She decided to leave the matter alone, even though she was really curious as to what Akito would say. "Akito, do you want to go and do something?" the small pink haired girl asked, focusing only on the young Uchiha.

"Sure." He said, shrugging.

Toshiro watched the two leave without as much as a goodbye. "They are so weird." He said to Minako, looking back at her.

"Yeah." She agreed, taking another lick of Toshiro's ice cream. "So do you wanna go do something?" she asked, raising a brow at him and biting into the cone, which was her favorite part.

"Sure thing, you can show me around Konoha and what you do for fun around here."

"Okay!" she said perkily, grabbing his hand and leading him off. They spent the rest of the day that way, with Minako showing Toshiro all around her village and her favorite places to go.


	7. Calamity

**Quake**

_Chapter Seven_

-Calamity-

"Okay kids, your father and I have an important meeting with Naruto and Hinata, so try not to get into any trouble while we're gone." Sakura said, strapping her kunai holster around her waist.

"Can we go play with Minako?!" Natsumi asked.

"Of course. She has training with Neji this morning, so we'll just drop you off at the Hyuuga Mansion. I'm sure he'll let her off early. Do you want to go too Toshiro?" she asked, turning to her son.

"Not…really." He frowned. He didn't want to hang out with three girls all day, especially if two of them were his sisters. "I'll just find something else to do." He shrugged.

"Well you can't go play with Akito!" Natsumi said, sticking her tongue out at her brother.

"Why not?"

She laughed and crossed her arms, "Cause' I already asked and he's training. And besides, _if_ he got off from training early he'd want to play with me and not you."

"Oh really?" Toshiro arched a brow, poking his sister in the forehead. "I doubt that, you're small and annoying. Akito would want to hang out with me so we could actually do cool stuff. He doesn't want to _babysit _a little girl like you."

Natsumi's jaw dropped, but before she could attack her brother Gaara cleared his throat. "Come on girls. Let's go."

"Stay out of trouble sweetie." Sakura said, kissing her son on the forehead before following her husband out the door.

"Yes, ma'am." He agreed, crossing his arms with a huff.

They left their hotel and walked towards the Hyuuga estate. Stopping in front of the gates, Sakura turned to the guards. "We're here to see Neji and Tenten. I believe they're training Minako right now?" she said.

"Wait here." The guards replied, one of them walking into the compound.

"Wow mommy, this place is huge." Natsumi said, looking up at the walls in awe.

Satomi nodded, agreeing with her sister. "Yeah, it's even bigger than our house!"

Sakura laughed. "'Well that's because the entire clan lives here, not just one family."

The guard came back then, and opened the gate to allow them through. "They are back in the garden."

They walked back to the house. Entering that garden, Sakura grabbed Gaara's arm. "Do you remember the last time we were here?" she asked, a nostalgic smile on her face. "It was when I almost beat you in croquet."

A small smile came to the man's face as he leaned down, kissing his wife on the temple. "And how Tenten won? And we got our first marriage advice?" he placed his arm around her waist and looked forward. Neji was standing in front of the smaller half-Hyuuga, showing her how her hands were supposed to be positioned.

"And then," the older man said, twirling around quickly, a sphere of chakra surrounding him in his speed. When he halted the ground was warped in the same direction he had spun. "And that's it." Neji shrugged and then glanced behind him to see the four that had joined them. "Hey Gaara, Sakura." He gave them both a welcoming smile.

"Oh my gosh! Are those your twins?!" a loud yell came from across the garden. Tenten ran over and hovered above the girls. "Wow Sakura they are absolutely adorable. Awww, they got Gaara's eyes! Your children are so cute. Your son is so handsome, I can't believe how attractive all your children are." She smiled, looking at her two friends now. "How are you guys? I hear you got another one in the oven Sakura."

She placed a hand over her stomach and smiled at her friend. "Yes we do. We can't wait for him to arrive so that the kids can have a little brother." She told her friend. Then she looked over at Minako and Neji. "Is he teaching her Rotation already?" she asked in awe.

"Oh yes," Tenten smiled a bit sadly, "He wants to make sure that Minako doesn't disappoint the Hyuuga Clan…since unfortunately I haven't been able to get pregnant." She looked down, placing her hand on her stomach. Sakura could see how much her friend wanted a child, "But it's alright. I love having Minako over, and Neji has something to do other than play mahjong and drink tea."

"You know Tenten, I could help you if you want…I know a few medical techniques that might be able to help you conceive." Sakura said, wanting to help in any way possible, so that her friend would know the joys of having her own child.

The brunette simply smiled, "I wouldn't want to inconvenience you Sakura, and I know you have a lot to do while you're in Konoha. After all you're a Kage's wife," she laughed, watching the twins run off to see Minako and Neji then. "I can't even imagine how you do it. Minako is such a handful sometimes, but you have three and have to deal with your village's well-being."

She shrugged. "It's not too hard once you get used to it. Plus, Gaara and I work as a team, so things are easier to do. And it won't take more than an hour, so no inconvenience. Besides, I'd do anything for a friend."

"If you wouldn't mind. I'd be very happy if you could try, I just don't know what's wrong." The brunette sighed, and then led them over to the others. Neji had stopped Minako's training to meet the twins, who were excited to meet someone their father actually liked from Konoha.

"So you're Minako's uncle?" Satomi asked, peering up at the Hyuuga.

"Yes, I am."

"You have pretty hair." Natsumi said, looking at his brown locks in awe.

"Um…" Neji said, staring at the little girl in surprise.

Gaara simply laughed, coming up behind the group. "Girls, be nice."

"I am being nice daddy." Natsumi said, still staring intently at Neji's long hair.

"We're just saying it's pretty." Satomi continued. They both nodded and looked over at Minako, "So are we allowed to stay here?"

"Sure thing," Tenten said before Neji could get in a word. "Minako, I'll make you and your friends some lunch."

The redhead looked over at his friend and sighed, "Sorry Neji, we have some important business with Naruto and I don't trust my twins alone."

The head of the Hyuuga shrugged, "It's fine. We can watch them, I'm sure they'll be okay."

"Thanks Neji. If they get to be too much trouble feel free to punish them." Sakura said, wrapping her arm around Gaara's waist.

With another goodbye, Gaara and Sakura left the Hyuuga prefecture and headed towards the Hokage tower. Upon arrival, they saw Naruto and Hinata waiting for them at the front door. "Hey guys! Ready to go for our walk?" Naruto asked, striding over to them.

"Not really, but these things need to be discussed." The Kazekage sighed. They started walking towards the gate, which was when a smaller redhead halted in his search for the training grounds. He had been running along the roofs when he saw his parents and the new Hokage. That was odd, they weren't having their meeting in the Hokage Tower?

Curiosity overwhelmed him, so he dropped his search and followed the group from a safe distance. He wanted to know what was so secretive that they couldn't even meet in the village. He had to be cautious though, because if his father even picked up a hint of his sand he would be caught and get in a huge amount of trouble.

Once they entered the forest, Naruto diverged off the path, wanting to be sure that everything they discussed was kept secret. "So Sakura-chan, do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" he asked.

"A boy. Toshiro is really excited to have a brother, and the girls just love babies." She said with a fond smile. Her children were one of the most important things in her life, and she was so grateful that she had them.

"That's cool. It'd be great if Minako had a sibling, that way she wouldn't be alone sometimes. We usually have her play with Akito, but when he's grounded or training, the only other option is to hang out with Neji and train. It's not that we aren't grateful or anything, but it would be nice if we didn't have to worry about her feeling lonely." Naruto said, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"Gaara doesn't believe in ever leaving our children alone." Sakura rolled her eyes, but she smiled at his agitated face.

"I told you why Sakura," he said simply.

"I know, I know." She waved him off.

Naruto nudged his friend playfully, "Haha what Gaara? You were so tortured as a kid you won't even let your children be alone?"

The glare the redhead sent to the blonde was icy, "Yes Naruto. I will not allow any of my children ever feel lonely or unloved."

Naruto sobered instantly. "I understand buddy, believe me. When she joins the Academy it won't be so bad, because then she'll be able to make more friends than just Akito, and Hinata-chan will be done with the clan by then."

Sakura raised a brow and looked at her friend. "I thought Neji was taking over as the Clan Leader."

"He is, but because he has been married for ten years and still doesn't have an heir, the Elders have been showing an increasing interest in Minako. I must be present for all of their meetings in order to make sure that they don't decide anything rash. My daughter will not grow up to meet the expectations of the Clan, the way I had to." She said with conviction. Naruto gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

It didn't take the group long after they took to the trees and sped towards a secluded area. It was the same waterfall that they had visited when Naruto had tried to make a fun day for the new couple. They landed gracefully by the water and then looked at each other.

Toshiro had barely been able to keep up with them, unfortunately he had to stop so he wouldn't be found by the adults. He was too far away to hear what they were saying, but he could see their faces and their mouths moving. His father had become very serious.

Gaara sighed, "I don't know if this is going to work. Toshiro doesn't seem very interested."

"He's just a kid. He probably won't even start to notice girls until he's around twelve or so." Naruto said, remembering that that was around the time he had gotten his crush on Sakura.

"I still don't know," he crossed his arms and looked off. "What if this is a bad idea? What if they don't like each other later? I mean, we're making them get married once Toshiro is twenty-one. What if it doesn't work?"

"Well, if we meet every summer or so for a while, the kids can get together. That way they can continue to get to know each other and stuff. So that when they do get married, they aren't complete strangers." Naruto suggested with a shrug.

Sakura looked off, thinking back on when Toshiro came to get her at the party. "What if Minako likes Akito…?"

"Nah there's no way that would happen, they've been friends since birth. Besides, if she liked him I would know. She tells me everything." Naruto said.

"Not everything Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a smile. "Besides, I can tell that she likes Toshiro, even if she doesn't know it yet."

"How?" Gaara asked, confused.

"I think I would know my daughter Gaara. She doesn't look at Akito the way she does your son. And trust me, I recognize that look, it's the one I gave Naruto-kun before we got together." She explained, smiling at her husband.

"I thought girls always went for the bad boys."

Sakura looked over at her husband and arched a brow, "And how exactly is Akito a bad boy?"

He returned her glance with a skeptical look, "Because, _darling_, he's all mysterious and depressed and has an oppressive father. It just screams bad boy."

"Oh, so because Sasuke is his dad that automatically makes him a bad boy?"

"Yeah," Gaara said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well Gaara, you're pretty oppressive, so why wouldn't she go for Toshiro?" Naruto asked.

The glare returned to his face as the redhead watched Naruto. "How am I oppressive?"

"Oh please, don't even get me started on your oppressiveness." Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. "And even if Toshiro isn't as jacked up as you are, there's no way some of that moodiness of yours won't rub off on him. Even Sakura-chan's happiness can't block all of that."

"So you're saying my son is going to become a terrible person?" Gaara asked, glare intensifying.

"No! Sakura-chan will stop that before it even happens, so no worries!" Naruto said, smiling over at his childhood friend.

Without another word Gaara pulled a kunai out of Sakura's holster and threw it at the blonde's face. "At least I didn't make my child some kind of manic depressant. Minako will probably be bipolar with your idiotic tendencies and Hinata's quietness. I wouldn't be surprised if she had Turrets."

Naruto dodged the kunai, and lunged at his friend, only to be held back by Hinata, just barely. "Well you're already a manic depressant now aren't you?! My daughter will be just fine thank you very much. Your son will probably have anger management problems and will be abusive! The way you AND Sakura-chan are!" he accused.

Sakura puffed up in offense. "Excuse me?! How dare you!" she yelled, moving to hit him on the head.

"Will you all just knock it off!" Hinata yelled, stopping everyone. Seeing that they had all frozen, she cleared her throat and blushed in embarrassment.

"Thank you. Now, if you don't mind, we did not come out here to insult each other and our children. We came here to discuss their futures, which I am _very_ interested in. So if you're finished acting like children, _I_ would like to continue the discussion." She said softly, letting go of Naruto.

Naruto crossed his arms and huffed. "Only if Gaara apologizes for what he said about my sweet little Minako."

"Yeah right." Gaara said, standing firm in his opposition. This time Sakura was by his side, her glare on Naruto as well. After all he had insulted her baby boy. "My son is the prodigy of sand, he's as clever and kind as Sakura, and as strong as me. He is perfect. So when you apologize, I might consider it."

'There's no way in hell I'm going to apologize first when you started it." Naruto said, returning his friend's glare. "Minako is the sweetest girl I have ever met. She has Hinata's brains and my strengths. She trains hard every day, and always has a kind word to say about everybody. _She_ is perfect. So when _you_ apologize first, then I will do the same."

Hinata decided that it was time to intervene again, before they got into another fight. "Good, since they are both perfect, then they will be perfect together."

"So true Hinata! And they are _so_ adorable together!" Sakura said, glare turning to a smile in an instant.

"They do look nice together, and just think how much better they will look when they're older." Hinata said, smiling back at her friend. Then the girls began to talk as if their husband's weren't there.

"I know! And just think of all the adorable grandchildren we will get from those two!" Sakura squealed in glee.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! My daughter is not going to be having children until she is much older. I am too young to be thinking about grandchildren." Naruto said, cutting into the conversation.

"Then you better watch out, because it's always the silent ones who are the sexual deviants." Gaara jabbed, still looking away from the group.

Hinata blushed at this, and Naruto turned red in anger. "Don't talk about my wife that way! And there's no way Minako will be like that! She isn't as quiet as Hinata-chan is anyways!" he said, crossing his arms and glaring at his friend.

A horrified look crossed Gaara's face. He really could have lived without that kind of information. "Like mother like daughter." He said finally.

"So you're saying that our daughters will wind up like me?" Sakura asked raising a brow. "You do realize then that we'll have to keep an eye on them when they get older then, seeing as I jumped you many times before we were married. At least Hinata waited until afterwards to do such things to Naruto." She said, causing Hinata's blush to get darker.

"Hey, the only one we have to worry about is Natsumi. Satomi doesn't like people, least of all boys." Gaara said simply.

"Ok then. But you do know that she likes Akito." Sakura said, waiting to see her husband's reaction.

"No she doesn't." he said confidently. "My precious gifts from above see no man but me right now."

"Whatever. Like mother like daughter, remember?" she mocked, raising a delicate brow.

Jade eyes flashed over to his wife in a threatening glare. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing." She said, turning back towards Hinata and Naruto, who had been watching the conversation with wide eyes. "So Hinata, is the Byakugan a dominant trait?" she asked.

"Yes. Most, if not all the children Toshiro and Minako have when they are older will be carriers of it." She answered with a nod.

Gaara was silent now. He didn't want to be anywhere near any of the people in his company. The conversation was dull. He knew Toshiro and Minako would be forced to wed even if they didn't like each other. This was a political move on both Gaara and Naruto's part. Sakura had formed the alliance when she married him, but they needed something stronger with how the war was going. They needed a blood bond, and marrying off the children was the only way. That and Sakura liked playing match maker.

Despite his previous thoughts Gaara ran over to Sakura and pulled her against him tightly, shielding her whole body with his. At least twenty kunai flew from the surrounding trees and landed at their feet. The Kazekage's sand had surrounded the group by now, and then a huge explosion went off all around them.

When the smoke cleared, Gaara dissipated the sand shield, and the four jumped apart. Gaara had his sand ready, Hinata her Byakugan activated, Naruto his shadow clones formed, and Sakura her kunai drawn.

A group of hired ninjas jumped out of the trees then, and began to attack them. "Where the hell did these guys come from?!" Naruto yelled, engaging in combat with one of the ninjas.

"Heck if I know!" Sakura yelled back, punching the ground.

"Just kill them." Gaara told them, taking off forward, his sand swirling around him and grabbing onto the two nearest ninja. They were immediately covered in sand. The sand tightened and slid to the ground following its master after leaving nothing but clothing.

"Leave at least one alive for questioning!" Naruto ordered, sending a Rasengan into one of the ninja's chests.

Toshiro was wide eyed, everything had happened so quickly. There were men everywhere. His eyes focused on his father, who was dealing with most of them. Most likely because his jutsu covered more of a distance. He looked over to his mother, making sure she was alright as well. Just as always, she had multiple bodies covering the ground around her. Suna had made the medic much colder, since they rarely took prisoners.

That was when he saw the ninja who were creeping through the trees, towards his mother's blind side. There were men all around her, and he didn't think she would be able to take on that many shinobi all at once. Toshiro ran forward, dodging through the trees, trying to get a lock on his father.

But he was far off now, throwing his enemies into trees and to the ground. He had to do something to save his mother from this attack.

Gaara froze, his sand surrounding him and then knocking all his attackers away. He turned around, his eyes locking on his son, who burst through the trees, his sand surging towards the men dropping down behind Sakura. "TOSHIRO!" the redhead actually screamed, horror turning his whole face pale.

Hearing her son's named called, Sakura turned around quickly. Terror struck her face as she saw her son running towards her, and the enemy ninja that were moving to attack him. In a burst of speed she was before her son. She turned and began to fight the enemy nin. When they were all killed, she turned towards him to see if he was okay. Suddenly, a piercing pain shot through her stomach, and she screamed out in agony.

A ninja that she hadn't seen, hadn't detected, had shoved a katana through her midsection. She fell to the ground, the pain too much for her to bear. Wanting to protect her baby, she sent all of her remaining chakra to her stomach, in order to keep the him alive.

"SAKURA!" Gaara ran for her, but was cut off by another wave. "NARUTO! SAVE HER!" he cried out, his sand becoming erratic and uncontrolled. He hadn't felt like this in many years. All his focus was gone. The battlefield wasn't safe for either side now.

In a flash Naruto was next to his friend. Lifting her in his arms, he immediately went to the village so that Tsunade could heal her and save the baby. Hinata was next to Toshiro shortly after. She knelt next to the shocked boy. "Toshiro, are you alright?" she asked, searching his face.

He didn't respond, he couldn't believe what he had seen. But he could still feel the warm blood on his face. His mother's blood…his _brother's_ blood. "It's my fault…" he whispered, almost incoherently. He couldn't hear Hinata, he couldn't hear anything but his father's angry screams. The scene was blurred from his tears, but he could see all the sand and all the blood spiraling around. It was lashing out towards them, slowly destroying everything in the area.

Hinata looked around and noticed that Gaara had killed all of the ninja in the surrounding area. Her Byakugan still activated, she noticed that there weren't any left, but that Gaara was still on a rampage. She pulled Toshiro to her body then, trying to shield him from the harmful sand swirling around the area.

"Gaara stop!" she yelled, squinting to protect her eyes from the grains flying around them. "They're all dead! You need to stop before you hurt Toshiro! We need to get to the hospital and check on Sakura!" she yelled, hoping to get through to him.

The sand only grew wilder, becoming denser until it suddenly stopped. When it fell to the ground, Gaara was gone. He appeared beside Hinata and grabbed her by the back of her jacket. The three were gone in a second, and nothing but destruction was left behind.

* * *

Hinata and Toshiro dropped to the floor of the hospital lobby. Gaara was off the second his feet connected to the ground. He needed to see Sakura. He needed to know she was okay. He didn't need directions, he could feel his wife and he went straight to her. He stopped at a familiar room, the same one she had been in the first time he had had to deal with his almost loss. Distraught was all over his face, he couldn't get rid of the knowing guilt that started growing in his stomach.

He had wanted nothing but to be away from her and now he couldn't be close to her. Maybe if he hadn't gone so far he would have been able to protect her. This was his fault. He had left his wife in his anger and now her life was endangered. His son's life was endangered. His eyes went wide, and he tried to remember exactly where Sakura had been stabbed. Gaara's body went numb. _No_, he thought, his eyes starting to water. "NO!" he screamed, holding his head in agony.

Naruto was next to him in an instant. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, trying to comfort him. "Don't worry Gaara. Tsunade-baa-chan and Shizune are taking care of her, she and the baby are in good hands."

Naruto's comfort did nothing to ease the empty depths. Slowly Gaara sank to his knees, unable to stand any longer. There was nothing inside him anymore. Hinata took Toshiro and had him cleaned up. When that was done, she sent word to Neji and Tenten. Shortly after her cousin and his wife arrived, the twins and Minako in tow.

"Where's mommy?!"

"Where's daddy?!"

"Where's Shiro-kun?!" The girls cried, all at once.

"Girls, calm down. Your dad is with your mom, but you can't go back there right now. Toshiro is in the waiting room, so come with me." Hinata said, picking up her daughter and cradling her to her chest, needing the comfort.

They entered the waiting room and everyone wordlessly sat with Toshiro. Hinata set Minako down in Neji's lap, and her daughter immediately clung to her uncle. "I'm going to go see how things are going." She said, walking through the doors to the ICU.

Once she got there she stood by her husband, sending Gaara a pitying glance. Then she activated her Byakugan and grabbed Naruto's hand. The baby was dying. No matter Tsunade's and Shizune's efforts, the cut was too close. And Sakura was almost out of the chakra that she had been using to keep him alive.

Realizing that it was too late, Hinata turned and began to cry into her husband's chest, ignoring his look of confusion. It wasn't her place to say anything, and maybe, just maybe, Sakura and the baby would pull through.

Gaara placed his hand on the window. He could easily break through this weak barrier. But he knew that would only compromise Sakura and the baby's health. He knew that it was pointless, he could feel his son dying slowly. His tortured face slowly fell into his emotionless façade. He had let his son die…because he wasn't a good enough father. He had let some renegade run a tainted blade through his wife because he wasn't a good enough husband. Everything was black now.

* * *

Natsumi stood at the doors leading down the hall to the ICU. Her face was unreadable and she was eerily still. "He's dying…" she said softly.

Satomi looked over towards her sister, her expression matching that of Gaara's. "I know."

* * *

Sakura lay there on the table, regulating her breathing and sending every last vestige of chakra she had to her baby. She could feel him slipping, but she was determined to keep him alive. Shizune had placed an oxygen mask over her, and she was just conscious enough to make out their faces.

Suddenly she felt the life leave her baby, and she let out an agonized scream. "NO!" she wailed, beginning to struggle on the table so that she could look at her stomach. Tsunade held her down, trying to bring the baby back.

"Shizune! Put her under before she does any damage!" Tsunade ordered.

Sakura felt a prick in her neck, and then her consciousness began to slip. Her last thoughts, as tears slid down her cheeks were that she had failed. She had failed to protect her son, failing as a mother. And she had failed to be as strong as Gaara believed her to be, failing as a wife.


	8. Grief

**Quake**

_Chapter Eight_

-Grief-

Sakura opened her eyes slowly, allowing for them to become used to the light. She placed her hand on her stomach and let out a choked sob. It was empty. Her baby was gone. Sure, she was fine now, but her baby was gone.

The life left her eyes then, and she laid there to silently cry. How could she look her children in the eyes knowing that she had killed their brother? How could she look Gaara in the eyes knowing that she had allowed their unborn child to die?

Just then the door opened and a familiar silhouette entered. Gaara closed the door behind him and started forward, that was when he heard the agonized sob. She looked away from him, her cries now because she was not alone. He stopped beside her bed and stared down at her, there was nothing to say. He knew she wasn't alright and nothing would ever be okay ever again. He attempted to take her hand in his, but when his fingertips touched her skin, she turned over with her back to him.

Gaara went wide eyed and tried to keep his already shattered heart from breaking anymore. "Sakura?"

"Please…just leave me alone." She whispered, shoulders shaking in silent sobs. She didn't want to see his look of hatred or loathing, it would break her heart.

He felt his heart stop. So she did hate him for not protecting her and their child. He backed away from her slowly, "Alright." She didn't hear him move until she heard the door open and then close. She shut her eyes tightly and let herself cry.

* * *

Hinata had sent Naruto and Minako home when she saw Gaara walk out into the waiting room. He looked dead and empty. Natsumi ran up to him and latched onto his leg. "Daddy! Is mommy okay?" she asked, her eyes watering. Without a word he picked up Natsumi and held her on his side. He looked over to Satomi and Toshiro. They both knew the look and got up. Gaara held his hand out to Satomi and she took it tightly, obviously holding back her tears. They all left, but Toshiro looked just as dead as Gaara did. Because the only thing that was running through his mind was, _It's all my fault_.

The dark haired woman walked into the hospital room with a tray of food and sat it down next to her friend. Sakura sat up, looked at the food, and then looked over to the window. She remembered this room. It was the room she had been taken to when her mission had failed. When Gaara had almost lost her. When she had failed him. Only this time, she had failed her entire family.

"Hinata." She said softly.

"Yes Sakura?" the ebony haired woman asked, looking over at her friend.

"Can I…can I stay with you and Naruto for a while? I just…don't think I can be around my family right now." She asked, looking down at the sheets.

"Of course Sakura, you can stay with us for as long as you need." Hinata said.

After some questions from Tsunade, Sakura was discharged from the hospital. She was told that she would still be able to have children, and that everything had been healed fully. But she didn't care. Her son was gone. She would never get to meet him. Never get to watch him grow up.

She wasn't surprised when they walked into the lobby and her family wasn't there. Of course Gaara wouldn't want her near their other offspring, he would be worried that she would let them die too. No father would want a murderer near their children. And that's what she was. A murderer. Sure, she hadn't killed their baby herself, but she wasn't strong enough to stop it.

She followed Hinata to their home. Minako and Naruto had already gone home and gone to bed. Apparently she had been unconscious and in the room for a whole day, and everyone had waited for her to wake up.

She was shown her room, and then left alone. Hinata had promised to go over to the hotel and get some clothes for her. Wanting to wash up, she took a shower, scrubbing her skin until it was red. She needed to get the stench of the hospital off, it reminded her too much of her loss.

When she went back into her room she put on a pair of Naruto's pajamas that Hinata had been kind enough to loan her until her clothes were brought over. She walked over to the other side of the room and sat in the windowsill. She stared desolately out the window at her former village. She hated it so much now, this was no longer her home. If she had been home her baby would have never died. He belonged in Suna with the rest of their family. She let her head rest on her knees and started to cry again.

* * *

Hinata walked over to the hotel and went up to the presidential suite. She steeled herself and knocked on the door.

It was a good five minutes before the lock slowly slid out of place and the door opened. Hinata had to look down to see the red-rimmed jade eyes. The door opened more and one of the twins stood, heartbroken in front of the woman. Her answer clarified which twin she was speaking to, "What do you want."

"Is your dad home? I need to speak with him." Hinata asked softly.

"Yeah, he's in his room." Satomi said, her voice dead. She stepped aside and let Hinata in. Once she was fully in the room the girl shut the door and disappeared into her room.

Hinata looked for the double doors and once she located them, knocked softly. A small voice gave her entrance and hesitantly she walked in. Gaara was lying in bed, staring at the wall. He didn't even acknowledge their visitor. "Hi Hinata," Natsumi said sadly, she was sitting in the bed beside her dad and petting his head. She had seen her mother do it when her father had a long day at work and was trying to make him feel at least a bit more alive.

"Natsumi, sweetie, I need to speak with your daddy alone, can you give us a moment?" she asked. She didn't want the children to hear what she had to say, they didn't need to be affected by this any more than necessary.

"No." she replied sternly, her sad face contorted into a glare. "Daddy can't be alone and he says mommy isn't coming home."

She sighed and walked over to the closet, pulling out some of Sakura's clothes and putting them into a bag. "Sakura is staying with me and Naruto-kun for a while, until she feels better. I just came to get her things." She told him so that he wouldn't worry.

Then she walked into the bathroom and packed Sakura's toiletries. She entered the room again, and, seeing that the two hadn't moved, went and stood next to the bed. "I really am sorry Gaara." She said softly.

"Get. Out." He said darkly. She nodded, trying not to feel to hurt by his words. She left the room and stopped in the living area to see Satomi once more.

Her glare was even icier than Natsumi's. "Don't come back." It almost sounded like a threat. She nodded once more and let herself out. The entire aura of the hotel room was making her even more depressed than she already was.

* * *

Hinata went back home and delivered Sakura's things. She didn't even get a look of acknowledgement. And Sakura hadn't moved from her spot in the windowsill.

Completely exhausted and emotionally drained from the events, Hinata went into her room and took a shower. She was still wearing her bloody clothes from the attack, having not left the hospital once.

After she was showered she crawled into bed with her husband, who was asleep. She snuggled up to him and sighed as he subconsciously wrapped his arms around her. Hopefully things would be better tomorrow.


	9. Attempt

**Quake**

_Chapter Nine_

-Attempt-

When Naruto awoke the next morning he saw his wife and smiled. Exhaustion was evident on her face, and he felt guilty for leaving her to deal with Sakura and Gaara. He began to stroke her face, waking her up in the process.

Seeing her sad eyes, he frowned. "How is everybody?" he asked, a little afraid of the answer.

Hinata let out a sad sigh. "Sakura is staying in the guest room, and hasn't moved from the windowsill since she got here. Gaara is at the hotel laying in his bed and facing the wall, while the girls try and comfort him. I didn't see Toshiro yesterday, so I don't know how he's doing."

Before he could ask more questions, their bedroom door opened slowly. Seeing that her parents were awake, Minako ran into the room and jumped on the bed, crawling between them. "Hey sweetie." Naruto said, stroking his daughter's hair.

"Morning daddy." She said sleepily. Then she turned to her mom. "Mommy? Can I go see Shiro-kun? I want to see if he's okay."

"I don't know honey, they might not want to see anyone today." Hinata said hesitantly. After the reaction she had gotten yesterday, she didn't know how her daughter would be received.

"Let her go sweetheart. Maybe Toshiro needs a friend right now." Naruto said.

"Alright." Hinata agreed. "But you need to get a bath first."

"Yes ma'am." Minako said, getting out of bed and going to get ready.

* * *

About an hour later, Minako made her way up the stairs of the hotel her friends were staying in. She knocked on the door, and stood back, swaying back and forth nervously.

The door opened a fraction of an inch and an angry jade eye stared out at the girl. "What do you want?" Satomi spat out.

"Um…I was wondering if Shiro-kun was here." She said poking her fingers together the way her mother used to do.

"He's not here. I don't know where he is." She said and then slammed the door in the girl's face.

Undeterred, Minako left and began to walk around the village. She came upon the playground, and saw him sitting on the same swing that she had occupied a few days before. She walked up to him. "Hi Shiro-kun." She said softly, unsure of what kind of mood he was in. Hopefully a better one than Satomi was.

He glanced at her and then focused back on a distant tree that seemed so fascinating. "Hey."

"Do you want to go get some ice cream or something? Ramen makes my daddy feel better when he's sad, but I don't think you like ramen." She suggested, wanting to help.

"My mom says ramen isn't a real meal and that it isn't healthy to eat." He said simply, his vacant stare not changing. He slowly started to swing, gripping the chains tightly. "And no thanks…I don't want ice cream."

She frowned, trying to think of something else that would help him feel better. Then her face lit up with a smile as she was struck with an idea. "What about a hug? Hugs always make me feel better when I'm sad."

He stopped swinging and stared at her. "A hug? Why would that make anything better? That only works for girls." He said darkly. He had never needed to be cheered up before. His life was perfect. Nothing bad ever happened to him but this…his own mother didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

"Well you don't know unless you try Shiro-kun. If you don't think a hug will make you feel better then would you like to talk about it? Didn't you say that your mom told you talking about your feelings makes you feel better?" she asked, trying to remember what he had told her when she needed cheering up.

His grip tightened threateningly, his knuckles started to turn white. "I followed my parents and yours into the forest…and they were attacked and when I tried to protect my mom…I…" he stopped, tears beginning to fill his eyes. "I wasn't able to do anything and I caused my brother to die…and now my parents won't speak to each other and my mom won't come home because she's so ashamed of me." He said, shutting his eyes tightly to try and keep the tears from falling. He felt awful, his brother was dead because of him, his mother hated him, and his father was now lifeless and wouldn't even spare him a glance. He had destroyed his family forever.

Sadness filled Minako's eyes then as Toshiro told her what was wrong. On impulse she went up and hugged him around the shoulders. "It's not your fault Shiro-kun! I bet they know it was an accident. My daddy says that people grieve in different ways, so I'm sure before no time your parents will be back to talking to each other. Some things you just have to let work themselves out." She said in a moment of wisdom.

Anger took over his sadness, and he stood up and pushed Minako away from him, causing her to fall backwards and hit the ground. "Will you be quiet?! You have _no_ idea what this is like! My brother is _dead_ because of me! My parents act like they hate each other! And it's all my fault!" he screamed, his sand crawling towards her menacingly. "So don't you try and tell me everything will work itself out, because it won't! Nothing will ever be okay ever again! I've wrecked my family! So just SHUT UP!" he glared and then stormed away before he could do anything more. He hadn't meant to hurt her, but she just didn't understand!

Tears streamed down her face as she watched him leave. Once he was out of sight, she lifted her hands to look at them. Her palms were cut and bleeding slightly from the gravel at the park. She stood slowly then, and dusted herself off with the back of her hands, not wanting to irritate them further.

Still crying, she decided that she wanted nothing more than to go home. With those thoughts in mind, she began to run out of the park, only to collide with another person, causing her to stumble backwards. Before she could hit the ground again, hands caught her. She looked up in surprise, only to be met with forest green eyes.

"Minako? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Akito asked, concern evident on his face. He went to grab her hand to hold it reassuringly, but stopped when he saw her flinch. He flipped her hands over and, seeing the scrapes, grew angry.

"Who did this to you?!" he asked.

She sniffed in response. "N-nobody Akito-kun. I f-fell." She said, not wanting to get Toshiro in trouble. She knew he didn't mean it and that it was an accident.

"Don't lie to me Minako. I'm your best friend, so tell me what happened." He said, giving her a small glare.

She knew he was right, and therefore, told him everything she knew about what had happened to her aunt and her family. When she got to the part about Toshiro, Akito's gaze hardened. "Tell me if he ever hurts you again." he said, a murderous glint to his eyes. He would kill anyone who hurt his best friend, no matter who they were.

She nodded dumbly, not really paying attention. Akito walked her home then, wanting her to be safe. When she went upstairs towards her room, she was met with her father.

* * *

Today had not been a good day. Naruto had gone to check on Sakura when he'd gotten up, only to find her sitting in the windowsill and staring out at the village. She didn't speak to him at all. Heck, she didn't even acknowledge his presence. From what he could tell, she had only moved to change out of his pajamas and into her own clothes.

Then he had to go to work and send a letter to Temari in Suna, informing her of what had happened. He had also made arrangements for a funeral to be held in Konoha, and another one in Suna at the same time. He knew his friends wouldn't be able to handle it, so he had taken care of all the arrangements for them.

Deciding that he wouldn't be able to get anything else done, he had come home looking for Hinata. She was attending the annual clan meeting, so he wouldn't see her until later that evening. When he felt his daughter's chakra enter the house, his mood had lifted. Maybe they could go get some ramen for lunch. She loved the food after all, and he hadn't been to Ichiraku's in over a day.

But when he came down the stairs and was met with red-rimmed blue eyes and a tear-stained face, his mood vanished. He went over to her and knelt down so he could see her face more clearly. He grabbed her hands to get her attention, but froze when he heard her suck in a sharp breath. Turning her hands over, he looked back up to her face. "Minako, sweetie, what happened?" he asked, concerned.

"It was nothing daddy. I fell is all." She said, voice trembling.

Now Naruto wasn't stupid. He may be a goof and act like an idiot most of the time, but he wasn't stupid. He knew his daughter, and who she had gone to visit earlier that day. The only explanation was that she had tried to make Toshiro feel better, and, being the unappreciative emotional child that he was, had pushed his daughter. He _knew_ that kid was going to have anger management problems and be violent. He just _knew_ it. But now was not the time to bask in his being correct.

"Sweetheart, I know you're trying to protect Toshiro, but you need to tell me what's wrong. If you don't then I can't fix it." He said softly, giving her a tender look.

She burst into tears then, and told him everything. How Satomi had been in a worse mood than usual, and how Toshiro thought the whole thing was his fault and that he had ruined his family. This knowledge made Naruto angry. He could only put up with his friends' bull for so long, and they had already used up his time.

He left in a flash, telling his daughter to clean her hands as soon as possible, so that they wouldn't get infected. Arriving at the hotel his friends were staying at, he kicked down the door and went straight into the master bedroom.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Satomi demanded, running up and blocking the doorway.

Angry red eyes met hers then, and she shrunk back at the snarl Naruto sent her way. He went straight to the bed, and snorted in disgust at what he saw. Gaara was still lying there like a zombie, completely ignoring his children. He walked over and grabbed the lifeless redhead by the wrist and dragged him out of bed.

"Put my daddy down! Now!" Natsumi yelled, standing so that she could protect her father, her sand already making its way towards Naruto.

Naruto turned to her and said in a gruff voice, "You'll understand someday kid that sometimes, a friend is the one who knows what's best for you." And then he left in a flash, not wanting Gaara's kids to attack him. If it came down to it he might hurt them in the state he was in, and neither he nor his friends would forgive him if he hurt the girls.

They arrived in front of the door to Sakura's room, and without a knock, Naruto kicked that door in too. Locking gazes with a shocked Sakura, he threw Gaara into the room.

"You two are such idiots! You need to stop wallowing in your self-pity and just talk to each other. You have three beautiful, alive children that need you right now. And what are you doing?! You're neglecting them. You two are failing as parents, and if you keep this up, your kids will never forget it." He said walking back to the door. He turned to face them again.

"And don't come out of this room until you two have talked this over. If you do I'll…I'll…well, you don't want to know what I'll do, because it won't be pretty. Even I don't know what it will be, that's how awful it is. So just talk. When I see you two again, you better be a couple." With that, he shut the door.

* * *

They had been sitting there in silence for what felt like hours, when in reality it had only been two minutes. Deciding that she didn't want to hear the words she knew he would say, she looked over at her husband and decided to save him the trouble.

"You don't have to say it. I understand." She said softly.

He stared at her, a confused look washing over his face. "Why didn't you come home last night?"

Her brow scrunched in confusion. "Because…you don't want me anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Now he was angry. "Why in the world would I not want you? You're my wife. I've needed you there for ten years."

She turned and faced him fully, pointing to herself for emphasis. "I killed him Gaara! I couldn't protect our son! It's my fault because I'm not strong enough! Why would you want someone who can't protect their children?!" she wailed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"That's why you didn't come home?!" he glared, raising his voice now. "Because you think this is your fault? Why would you ever think that Sakura?! I'm your husband! I'm supposed to protect you and I _left_ you. Because I was angry I left your side. This is my fault because I couldn't protect the one person I swore to protect. You were carrying my child and I left your side...this is my fault..." he repeated, looking away from her now. He knew she would blame him now, for being so weak.

Instead she ran over to him and hugged him fiercely, burying her face in his neck. "It's not your fault Gaara…how could you know that we were going to get attacked?" she asked, then pulled away so she could stroke his cheek comfortingly. "I just…I wasn't strong enough to protect both myself and Toshiro…" she trailed off, eyes beginning to water again. "I thought that you wouldn't want me to come near our children because I had failed them as a mother…and that you wouldn't want me because I had failed you as a wife." She said, voice trembling. Now that he knew the truth he would change his mind. It made sense to blame her…she _was_ the weaker of the two.

Gaara pulled her tightly against his chest, "You're a wonderful mother Sakura. There was no way that you could have handled that differently. You did your best…the most important thing is that you and Toshiro are alright." He shut his eyes and buried his face in her hair. "And how could you do something like that to our children, leaving them with only a psycho father."

She chuckled at his statement and nuzzled his neck. "I'm sorry I left you. I promise I won't do it again."

"I know," he whispered, kissing head lovingly. "Please just don't ever do it again. No matter what, I can't be without you."

"I promise." She said, kissing his cheek. "Just don't ever let me go."

* * *

After she washed her hands off, Minako decided to go find Natsumi and Satomi and try to cheer them up. She went over to the hotel, and when she saw that the door was kicked in, she ran inside, worried about her friends.

"Natsumi-chan?! Satomi-chan?!" she yelled frantically.

Natsumi was sitting on the couch sobbing, while Satomi was trying to comfort her. The older twin looked at Minako and sighed, "What?"

"What happened?" she asked, running over to her friends.

"Your psycho dad came and took our daddy away." Satomi glared. Natsumi was unresponsive, but her sobbing slowly died and there were silent tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Oh. I wouldn't worry then, he's probably getting your mom and dad back together. He was really angry when he found out about that." Minako said, hiding her hands behind her back so her friends wouldn't see.

"Oh," they both said together.

"Well what do you want?" Satomi asked.

"Well, I wanted to show you and Natsumi-chan this really cool place I found right outside the village. I thought it would cheer you guys up a bit." She said, rocking back and forth nervously.

They both blinked, all sadness gone from their faces for just a moment. "What is it?" they questioned.

"Well you'll just have to see it. It's a really cool field with all these pretty wild flowers, and if you make a certain noise, the flowers move and all these beautiful butterflies appear!" Minako said enthusiastically, throwing her arms up in the air for emphasis.

Both their eyes went wide, "What are butterflies?" Natsumi asked excitedly. Satomi's expression mirrored her sister's, but she said nothing.

Minako's eyes widened in shock. "You've never seen a butterfly before?!" At the twins' negative shake of their heads she continued. "They are like flowers that can fly! They have really pretty wings and are so cute! And they come in all kinds of colors." She explained excitedly.

"We want to see!" they demanded, jumping down from the couch and smiling brightly.

Minako led them through the village, until they came upon an alleyway. Reaching the end, she moved a crate, revealing a small hole that only a child could fit through. Once everyone had crawled through, they snuck into the forest. After walking for about five minutes, they came upon a clearing full of beautiful wildflowers. "We're here." Minako said with a bright smile, turning to face her friends.

"Such pretty flowers," Natsumi gaped, a bright smile forming on her face.

"I've never seen so many colors before." Satomi looked around, touching one of the red flowers delicately. "So where are the butterflies?" she glanced over at the dark haired girl then.

Minako smiled at her friend. Then she brought her hands up and cupped her face. Taking a deep breath, she let out a squawk similar to that of a bird. Suddenly all of the flowers began to move, and then a huge mass of butterflies flew off and into the air, a multitude of colors.

"They fly away when they think a bird is coming, because they don't want to be like sitting ducks." Minako explained, watching the butterflies fly up into the air.

"Wow!" Natsumi yelled, running out into the field and dancing around with the fluttering butterflies. "They are so beautiful!" she giggled, trying to catch a blue one.

Satomi walked forward, completely amazed. A bright yellow butterfly made its way towards her and decided to land straight on her nose. She blinked and smiled, making the beautiful insect take off and join the others.

Minako laughed at her friend's antics. The smile vanished from her face when she felt a sinister presence, but before she could make anything known, four men came out of the trees and landed on the other end of the field. "Well, well, well." One said with a devious smirk. Both Natsumi and Satomi froze. "Who would have thought the daughters of the Kazekage of Suna would be out playing all by themselves."

Natsumi, who was the closest to the ninja, glared hatefully. She looked at their headbands, noting that the symbol matched that of the waterfall country. "My daddy is close by," she told them.

But Satomi looked worried. Her sister was within easy grasp, and after their recent loss she just wouldn't be able to handle it. The leader of the group glanced at the other three with him. "All we need to do is find out which one is which. Water jutsu on the sand user and seals on the other, we don't need that strength turning against us." They nodded and spread out, the middle of the three dashing for Natsumi. Her sand rose instantly, in order to defend its small user. The man smirked and began forming hand signs.

"NATSUMI!" Satomi screamed, running forward to save her sister. One of the shinobi appeared before her and slammed his fist into her stomach. She was out cold in an instant. The waterfall ninja picked her up and held her over his shoulder.

"I think this is the one with the strength, I'll put the seals on her." He said loudly, pulling out sutras and setting them on the girl. Natsumi looked back at her sister for a moment, but this was what caused everything to go wrong. Before she could even react, she was doused with water. She slowed and gasped loudly, watching her pale skin darken ever so slightly from the wet sand. She tried to send her sand after the man with Satomi, but it only crawled sluggishly on the ground.

One of the men landed beside her and sent his knee up into her stomach, successfully knocking her out as well. The big guy hauled Natsumi into his arms, and began to walk away. Yelling out in a rage, Minako ran towards him and hit his leg with her gentle fist. But it wasn't strong enough to stop him, only to make him pause.

He turned and looked down at her, sneering in contempt. "What do you want us to do about this one?" he asked, his voice malicious.

"Just leave her. We only need the pink ones." Another man said, checking the area. "Now let's go before we get caught."

As the group began to move towards the trees, Minako picked up a rock and flung it at the big man, hitting him square in the back of the head. "Ow!" he exclaimed, turning around suddenly. Seeing her standing there with a determined look on her face, he grinned. Then he drew back his hand and hit her across her cheek, sending her flying into a tree.

By the time she came back around, the men were gone. Crying hysterically, she ran home. Entering the house she ran upstairs and found her father with his ear pressed against Sakura's bedroom door. She ran up to him then, sputtering.

Surprised to find his daughter in tears once again, Naruto turned and held her close. Pulling away from her, his eyes immediately looked at the large bruise forming on her right cheek.

"WHO THE HELL TOUCHED YOU?!" he yelled, eyes turning red in anger.

Hearing the outburst, the bedroom door was opened and Gaara and Sakura poked their heads out, only to hear Minako cry, "Natsumi-chan and Satomi-chan were kidnapped by bad people!"

Gaara froze. His blood felt cold and thick in his veins. "WHAT?!" he screamed, coming out of the room and glaring down at Minako. "How could this have happened?!"

Minako's watery blue eyes looked up at the angry redhead. "W-well…I wanted to make them feel better…s-so I took them to go see the butterfly flowers." She stuttered, trying to remain coherent.

"You took them outside the village?" Naruto asked, not believing that his brilliant daughter had done something so foolish in their time of war. Well…almost not believing. She was _his_ daughter after all.

"I just wanted to make them smile since I couldn't for Shiro-kun! And they had never seen butterflies before, so I thought I would show them." She defended, and then looked at the ground in shame.

"But then the bad men from Waterfall came out of the woods and attacked us before we could do anything. They hit Satomi-chan, and splashed Natsumi-chan with water before hitting her too. I tried to stop them daddy, really I did. But the big man was too big!" she said, beginning to cry again.

Naruto took his daughter into his arms then and lifted her up, stroking the back of her head to try and comfort her. He looked over at his friends. "Get whatever supplies you need and meet me at the gates in ten minutes. I'm going to drop her off at the Hyuuga Compound and put together a team to go with you, just in case."

Sakura nodded and placed her hand in her husband's, allowing for them to be taken away to their hotel in order to get their respective weapons.


	10. Rescue

**Quake**

_Chapter Ten_

-Rescue-

The girls were jolted awake when they made contact with the hard floor. Natsumi was shivering violently, and she couldn't figure out why. The door slammed and left the small girls in a dark room, with no light whatsoever. Satomi made her way, to the best of her ability, over to her sister to make sure she was okay. "Natsumi," she whispered.

"Satomi I'm freezing, what's happening? Why are we here? I don't understand." She babbled. The elder twin leaned against her sister, unable to hug her since she was tied up and had seals wrapped around her arms. She gasped and pulled away, speaking into the dark.

"You're soaking wet Natsumi!"

That explained it, the younger girl thought, shivering once more. And her teeth were beginning to chatter. How long had she been knocked out? And how much water had been splashed on her? She couldn't feel her sand anymore, and what was left was damp and unwilling to bend to her will. "Satomi…I'm scared." She whispered softly, beginning to cry once more.

"I know." Satomi said, looking around in the darkness for anything that could help them. "I am too."

* * *

Gaara glared out the gates of Konoha. What was taking Naruto so long?! His babies were out there in some psycho's grasp. His fists tightened and his glare shifted towards the village, now he hated the place even more.

Sakura placed her hand on his arm, trying to give him comfort. "Gaara it will be okay, we _will_ find them."

Suddenly Naruto appeared, along with Neji, Tenten, and Sasuke. Gaara looked at the Uchiha, confused. What was he doing here?

"Okay let's go. Neji, activate your byakugan and see if you can find where the twins are located. Sasuke, activate your sharingan and keep an eye out for traps." Naruto said, completely serious.

Ah, so that was why. It made sense, but the redhead couldn't help but wonder if Sasuke had come of his own volition, or if Naruto had made him. The blonde Hokage sent them all off then, needing to stay behind in case the village was attacked.

They traveled in silence, until Sakura looked at Gaara from the corner of her eye. "Can you sense Natsumi's sand?" she asked, needing some kind of confirmation that they were going in the right direction.

His angry glare focused on her, though he did not intend it to seem so hateful. "Of course I can, it's extremely faint but I can feel the particles. What, did you think I was leading us in some random direction?" he sped ahead then, giving her no room for a reply. He was so angry right now he couldn't even comprehend the fact that he had just said that to her. It wasn't her he was upset with, it was himself. He had left his two angels alone and now they were gone. But anyone who would confront him would feel the same wrath. He needed to be focused on the only objective that mattered at the moment.

Sakura gazed ahead, trying not to be hurt by his words. She knew he was just as upset about this as she was. She had left her babies for selfish reasons, and now they were paying the price. After a few more minutes of traveling, Neji spoke up.

"We're close. There's a cave about five miles west of here that shows signs of having occupants."

* * *

Satomi was breathing harshly, it was at least the seventh time she had tried to free herself from her restraints. Natsumi was lying on the floor now, still soaking wet. They had come in every ten minutes with a bucket of water, making sure the young girl never became dry.

Once more it was that ten minute interval. The doorway slid open and a dark silhouette came in, his hands full with a familiar bucket. Hard jade eyes focused on the man. She would not allow her sister to be harmed anymore by these rogues. Natsumi was slowly getting sick from the damp cell they were in and the constant soak. Just as the man stopped next to the half-conscious girl, Satomi lurched forward. She jumped up and wrapped her tied wrists around his throat, trying to strangle him.

He dropped the pale instantly and tried to get the girl off him, falling back and slamming Satomi into the cavern wall. She screamed out in pain, tightening her grip. She would not let him hurt her sister anymore. Slowly the seals on her arms began to tear and she could feel chakra surging throughout her body.

By now a couple other ninja ran in to help, but Satomi broke through her bonds and tightened her grip on her captive. There was a sickening crack and the shinobi fell to the floor with a lifeless thump.

The others ran at her, but in her angered state there was nothing they could do against her by themselves. When one tried to grab her, she threw them against the wall, causing the earth to shake. The other two were dead in a matter of seconds with the pounding they took. But now the rest of the men were coming in, too many for the small girl. She kept them away until a sharp pain stung through her head. She fell forward from the blow, but tried to steady herself. One of the larger men grabbed her by the shirt and threw her against the wall, ripping the material in the process. Natsumi stared, only half awake on the floor, at her sister as she fell lifelessly to the floor.

She felt hard arms pick her up and throw her over his shoulder. Someone grabbed Satomi as well, but the only thing Natsumi heard before everything went black was how they would get rid of her.

* * *

They sped up, and made it to the cave in less than ten minutes. Sasuke went forward and looked around for any signs of traps. "Clear." He said. Gaara shoved past him then, and walked straight into the cave.

Sakura followed shortly after, and went down a separate tunnel. There was nobody there, and it looked as if the group had left some time ago. She continued forward though, looking for a clue. That was when she stepped on a small piece of torn, pink cloth. She picked it up and gasped. It was a piece of her daughter's clothing.

"Gaara!" she screamed, not sure which part of the cave he was in.

A presence was by her instantly and she knew it was him. He looked over her shoulder and went wide eyed, taking the cloth from her. His features darkened and finally he tore his eyes from the cloth. He looked around the empty room and noticed something dark on the floor. Hesitantly, Gaara walked over and kneeled down to the ground, running his fingers through the dark liquid. When he pulled his fingers up the tips were covered in blood.

Sakura gasped and did her best not to break down crying. "Can you tell whose it is?" she asked, taking her place by his side. He smeared the blood between his fingers and then smelt it. Slowly he stood and wiped the substance on his pants.

"It's Satomi's."

His wife let out a choked sob, "My baby is hurt." She took a deep breath and glared at the wall. They would pay.

"Come on," he said, walking out of the room then and calling out for the others. "They haven't been gone long, it was still pretty fresh."

She nodded and followed him out, seeing that Neji and Sasuke were already heading out the door. Tenten ran up and placed a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry Sakura. We _will_ find them."

Once they were back outside, Gaara searched around the area and cursed, the amount of sand Natsumi had had on her was gone now. "Neji!" he glared over at the brunette, who simply nodded. He formed a hand sign and then his byakugan activated. His shock was evident to the group.

"This isn't good." He said, taking off into the trees then with Gaara right behind him.

"What is it?" the redhead demanded.

The Hyuuga pressed his lips together tightly, not wanting to say anything. He would soon find out. They had only been traveling for a while when Neji came to a halt and jumped to the ground. He shot over towards a grouping of trees and then stopped when he saw a clump of pink and red. "Satomi!" Gaara yelled, pushing through the thick brush. Kneeling beside her, he pulled her into his arms. Dried blood was matted in her hair and her arms were terribly bruised.

Sakura was beside him in an instant, her healing hands already on her daughter's head. "Satomi! Satomi! Wake up, its mommy, can you hear me?!" the medic started yelling, wanting a response of any sort.

Slowly, Satomi opened her eyes halfway. "Mommy? Daddy?" she asked, looking from her loving mother to her terrified father.

"Oh Satomi!" she gasped and wrapped her arms tightly around her baby. "Satomi are you okay? Is there anything else wrong?"

The young girl shook her head and then winced, "Natsumi!" she screamed, looking around in horror. "Daddy! You have to get Natsumi! They keep splashing water on her! She's sick! Really sick! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she began to sob. Gaara pulled her closer, trying to comfort her.

"Satomi, you didn't do anything wrong." He said softly.

"No! I couldn't save Natsumi!" she choked out, tears were now rolling down her pale cheeks.

Sasuke stepped forward and squatted down next to Gaara, making eye contact with the girl. "Satomi, it's extremely important that you tell us which way they went."

Her blurred gaze shifted to the Uchiha, and she pointed off towards the north-west. "I'm pretty sure they went that way. That was the last thing I saw."

"Are you sure?" his gaze hardened.

She nodded and looked back up to her dad. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect Natsumi daddy."

"You don't need to worry about being strong Satomi, I will always be there for you. I will get your sister back." He promised.

Tenten took a step forward and cleared her throat. "Um Gaara, Sakura…I can take Satomi back to Tsunade to make sure she's okay…you need to go get Natsumi."

Reluctantly Gaara nodded and picked Satomi up. Tenten held her arms out and took the girl from him, cradling her lovingly. "I'll make sure she stays safe."

"We know Tenten," Sakura smiled. She was at least glad she had one of her children back. Then the brunette woman was gone and off into the trees. Neji stared after her, a bit of worry on his face.

Sasuke started forward then, "Come on." Then in a flash he was gone as well, followed by the group. They were back on the trail, both sharingan and byakugan on the alert for anything that might give off where they were headed.

* * *

Minako hit the post with a wince. Every since she had arrived at the Hyuuga Estates she had been training. Training to become stronger, so that she could protect the people important to her.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she let out another blow. Now everyone would be mad at her. Her parents would be mad that she had left the village alone while they were at war. Her Uncle and Grandfather would be disappointed in her. Toshiro would hate her because she had lost his sisters, and Akito would hate her because Natsumi had gotten hurt and she couldn't do anything about it.

Her tears were free-flowing now, as she began a new set of hits, re-opening the wounds on her palms from earlier, covering the post in her blood. She would continue to train until her gentle fist was strong enough to bring down an opponent, no matter how much it hurt.

She continued to hit the post, pushing herself so hard that she had created new wounds on her hands that were bleeding as well. But she didn't care. It was nothing compared to whatever pain her friends were going through, she was sure. So wrapped up in her thoughts was she, that she didn't even notice the other presence that had joined her in the garden.

"Minako, I've been looking all over for you." Toshiro said, running up to the girl. He stopped when he saw her hands and then froze. Had he done that to her out of his rage? "Minako I'm so sorry." He was in front of her in an instant, holding her hands in his lightly. Suddenly she could feel the pain slowly easing. It took a bit longer than it would have taken his mother, but eventually the girl's hands were completely healed. "I'm really sorry…I didn't mean to, I promise." He said, looking down then.

"It doesn't matter. I deserve it anyways." She said, still crying. "You shouldn't be nice to me."

"What? Why?" he blinked. He apparently hadn't heard what had happened.

She looked into his confused eyes with her watery ones. "B-because I lost your sisters!" she wailed. Then she told him the whole story, the words running together a bit. She told him about her dad getting his parents back together, and about how she had taken the twins outside the village to see the butterflies. When she finished she sniffed.

"And now everyone is mad at me, because it's all my fault. All I wanted to do was make them feel better, and I got them stolen!" she cried, covering her face with her hands in shame.

His reaction came very slowly, and it was obvious he was trying to hold in all of his rage. "YOU WHAT?!" he glared, backing away room her. "Minako! I _just_ told you what happened when I was outside the village, you know, where my brother was _killed_!" he was hyperventilating now, holding the area over his heart tightly. "Why would you take my sisters out there?!" he demanded, stepping close to her once more. He was trying so hard not to act out physically.

She began to bawl now, knowing that he would never be her friend again. "It wasn't even five minutes away! My daddy takes me there all the time! I-I thought we would be okay. B-but I didn't sense the bad men in time, and when I tried to stop them they threw me away!" she wailed, subconsciously touching the large bruise on her cheek.

"And it's all my fault they got stolen, because I wasn't strong enough to protect them!" she said, sinking to the ground in order to better wallow in her misery.

His glare fell away instantly when he saw the mark on her cheek. How had he missed it when he had come? Hesitantly he placed his hand on her cheek and began healing the bruise. "It's not your fault Minako," he said half-heartedly. As angry as he was with her, he knew that there was really nothing she could have done. They were grown men and she was just a little girl. "Please don't blame yourself. I know that my mom and dad will get them back."

Despite his unease with the idea, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. He had remembered she said these made her feel better when she was trying to help him. She turned into his embrace and buried her head in his neck, continuing to cry. Tentatively, she wrapped her arms around him, returning the hug. She knew there wasn't anything she could do, but vowed never to be in a position where she was completely helpless ever again.

Eventually her sobs died down and she sighed. "I really am sorry Shiro-kun. I just can't seem to do anything right, ever since you guys got here." She said softly.

"It's okay," he told her, regardless of the situation he wanted to see her smile. He never liked when girls were sad, except his sisters, since they were always so happy, but that rarely happened. "My dad said something awful would happen when we came here. He says 'Suna shinobi just can't survive in Konoha. It's hazardous to our health.'" Toshiro smiled then, it was still pained but he was trying at least. "Besides…if you are going to feel sorry for anyone, you should feel sorry for the ninja who took my sisters. My dad is going to kill them all…in the most painful way he can think of I'm sure."

She looked up to him, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "My daddy says that Suna shinobi just don't know how to have fun. But I can see what your dad means…" she trailed off, looking away from him then. Turning back to him, blue eyes wide, she said, "But I don't think it's true. I have fun with you…and your sisters."

He shrugged, "It's okay. I understand, my mom says that we're sometimes way to serious for her. I guess we take after my dad that way."

She giggled then, stopping suddenly when she felt a familiar chakra enter the garden. She turned her head to the left and yelled, "Akito-kun! What are you doing here?"

Said Uchiha walked into the garden, a glare on his face as he saw his friends embracing on the ground. _He_ was supposed to be the one Minako cried on. _He_ was supposed to be the one she told all her problems to.

"My father told me to come here and keep you company while he went with your dad. What's going on anyways?" he asked, walking over to them. Minako and Toshiro exchanged a look, not sure if they should tell him or not. Toshiro decided to save Minako the stress of re-telling her story, not wanting her to cry again.

"Natsumi and Satomi got kidnapped." He said solemnly.

Akito's face contorted into one of shock. "What?! Natsumi's gone?!"

"Yeah." Minako said, looking at the ground, unable to meet her friend's gaze. Toshiro rubbed her back reassuringly.

"They were outside the village and some ninja came and attacked them." The redhead said, leaving the part about Minako having been at fault. "They sealed Satomi and I'm assuming that they're keeping Natsumi wet so she can't do anything."

Akito's fist clenched in anger. If Natsumi was hurt he didn't know how he would handle it. There really wasn't anything he could do, but he knew that if his dad had gone with them, the twins would definitely be found. So he sat down next to his friends and waited.


	11. Pain

**Quake**

_Chapter Eleven_

-Pain-

Pale jade eyes cracked open. She didn't know how long she'd been out this time. Natsumi glanced around the dim cave, still shivering. Great, they had thrown more water on her. She really hated water. Slowly she sat up and looked around the place. It was damp, and she could even feel the water hovering in the air. When she placed her hand to her forehead she groaned. She had a temperature.

Deciding she needed to find a way out of this horrible place, she got up and gradually made her way around the room. Her whole body ached and felt bruised. She didn't know where Satomi was, and that frightened her the most. She had never really been without her sister by choice before.

Suddenly the door to the closed area flew open and a large man walked in. A dark laugh came from him as he towered over her. "Looks like you're awake, but you don't look so good little girl." He snickered, making her stomach drop.

"Where's my sister?!" she demanded, trying to keep a bold tone.

"That other one? We killed her off the other day and left her in the forest. She was too much trouble." He said simply. Natsumi was wide eyed now. It wasn't possible. She would have felt that right? RIGHT?! He moved to throw the water, but she had already jumped onto him and was hitting him as hard as she could. At that moment, she really wished she were her sister and could bash in his skull. He tried pulling her off, but her nails dug into his skin as she screamed.

Finally, he got a good grip and ripped her off, causing her nails to rake across his face and draw blood. "Damn!" he yelled, throwing her against the wall. She gasped, the wind knocked right out of her as she hit the floor with a loud smack. She cried then, this couldn't be happening. She didn't understand, her life was perfect, bad things weren't supposed to happen to her. She felt the bitter cold sweep through her body as he threw the water on her. He left finally, and the only thing she could do was wish. "Mommy…daddy…why won't you save me?" she sobbed out, before letting her tired eyes close.

* * *

"Neji." Sasuke said without looking back.

"I know, I feel it too." The Hyuuga replied.

"Feel what?" Sakura asked, catching up to the two.

"There is a sinister presence up ahead." Neji responded, activating his byakugan. "Found them." He said.

"Numbers?" Gaara asked, not really caring, since he would kill them all anyways.

"Fifteen. They are in a cave with a lower level. Natsumi is on the lower one in a damp alcove." He informed them, brow creasing with worry.

"Is she okay? Is my baby okay?" Sakura asked, needing some kind of reassurance.

"She's bleeding slightly from her head, but it's fresh, so she should be fine until we get there. She's soaking wet, and her chakra is out of control. It looks like she's sick, just as Satomi said."

Sakura's fist clenched at this. She was going to murder whoever hurt her children, slowly, so that they would know the true meaning of pain.

When they reached the cave Sasuke halted them. Performing a few hand signs, he walked forward into the cave, dispelling all the genjutsu and traps that were in place. A whistle was the only indication that everything was clear for them to enter.

The trio rushed forward and saw no sign of the Uchiha. Assuming that he had gone ahead, they continued through the dark cave. They travelled through the tunnel until coming upon a large cavern, full of the enemy. All but four of them. Perfect.

Wordlessly they split up and began to fight. Gaara was the first to make contact with one of their opponents. Sand surrounded the man quickly, hardening around his wrists and his ankles. "Die." He told him hatefully, moving his hands apart the sand mimicked their master and ripped the shinobi to pieces. He quickly disposed of the man and was met with three more.

Neji had already blocked two men, who were now stumbling around clumsily from the lack of chakra. Their energy was gone then, and the brunette took a kunai to their throats, ending their lives.

Sakura punched the ground, breaking it to pieces, effectively scattering the remaining shinobi. A large man with small cuts on his face was before her then, giving her a sinister smile. "So you're the mother of those twerps huh? Too bad that other one isn't as strong as you are, she fell easily. And that sand user is even more useless. She even tried to stop me from dousing her with water. But all I had to do was slam her into the wall and she stopped struggling. Maybe you'll be more of a challenge."

Her anger grew as he continued to talk. So this was the man who had been harming her daughters. She knew exactly what she wanted to do to him. She chuckled darkly. "Oh I'll be more of a challenge alright."

Then she ran at him, raising a fist. He was smart enough to try and dodge, but that was all part of her plan. Once he was behind her she used the momentum of her punch and turned, socking him in the jaw. He flew backwards and hit the wall with a crash.

She was before him in an instant. Gripping him by the collar, she brought him to her face so that they were eye to eye. "So you like to hurt children eh?" she asked, grabbing his left arm. She twisted it sharply, until there was a loud crack. The man screamed out in pain.

"What? You can dish out pain but you can't take it? What a wimp." She said flatly. Then she threw him across the room again in disgust.

She gave him enough time to try and get up, but before he could she was standing over him, her foot on his right leg. She stepped down, snapping his leg in half. Once his wail of pain died down she squatted next to him. Cocking her head to the side in contemplation, she asked, "Is that too much for you? You want me to stop?"

She yanked him off the ground and stood. "Too bad." Then she slammed him back down. She grabbed his right hand and began to roll it inwards towards his side, bending it in ways that an arm wasn't supposed to be bent, causing it to crack the whole time, bone beginning to stick out of the flesh. The man was crying now, tears of pain rolling down his face.

A sadistic smile came over her then, as she pulled out a kunai from her pouch and stabbed it into his left knee. The man buried his face in the ground, sobbing from the pain he was in. Sakura grabbed his head by the hair and lifted it up so the he was looking into her eyes. "Would you like me to stop?" she asked, feigning concern.

"Yes! Please stop! I'll do anything!" he cried, all previous confidence gone.

"Too bad. I might've, if you hadn't begged so pitifully." She told him. Then she lifted him up more, so that his torso was revealed to her. She shot her right hand forward and gripped his beating heart.

"Nobody touches my children and gets away with it you bastard." She said darkly, squeezing the organ slowly, watching the life go out of his eyes the whole time. Once she was sure that he was dead, she ripped her hand from his chest and dropped him. Standing, she looked at her hand that was still clutching the crushed heart. Sneering in disgust, she threw it off to the side and wiped her hand off on her leg.

She turned to see that all the enemy ninja had been killed while she was teaching that man a lesson. She met Gaara's gaze and raised a brow. "What?"

"Nothing," he smirked, looking away then. "I've already told you before that it really turns me on when you get like that."

"Then you must be dying right now, because I wasn't _that_ brutal with Sasuke." She said, returning his smirk.

"Oh trust me…if our daughter wasn't in danger right now…there would be nothing stopping me..." his taunting smile soon died and he looked around. He wanted his daughter back. Now.

* * *

A grunt was heard as the last man died from the genjutsu he had been put in. Sasuke let go of him and watched him fall to the ground. It had been easy work, and to be honest, he was disappointed.

He searched the room then, eyes stopping when they came upon a pile of pink and red. He knelt down and turned the girl's head to the side, examining her wound. She appeared to be unconscious, which was okay with him, since he wasn't comfortable around little girls.

Noticing that she was still wet, he ripped the shirt off of one of the men he had killed and made it into a makeshift blanket. Once he wrapped her in it he picked her up and gently laid her head on his shoulder. Hearing a loud crash coming from above, Sasuke knew that all the other ninja had been disposed of.

He made his way to the upper level quickly, knowing that they would want to see their daughter as soon as possible. He reached the large cavern then, and walked straight over to Gaara. Holding the small girl out to the redhead, Sasuke said, "I took care of the ones that were downstairs. She has a fever."

Gaara took her slowly, giving the Uchiha a confused look. His expression softened as he looked down to his daughter. Finally returning his gaze to Sasuke he said, "Thank you…" he pulled Natsumi closer and pressed his face into her wet hair. She was safe and alive. He had never felt more relieved.

"You would do the same for me if my son were in trouble." Sasuke said with a shrug. Before Gaara could reply Sakura ran over and gripped Sasuke in a fierce hug. "Thank you…Sasuke-kun." She said. Then she turned and began to heal her daughter's head.

Sasuke merely stood there, stunned. It had been over ten years since she had called him that, and he knew that it was only a onetime thing. He smiled softly. Then he turned and began a conversation with Neji, wanting to give the couple some time to themselves.

Sakura finished healing Natsumi's head injury. Then she looked up at her husband. "We need to get her back to Konoha, I can't properly bring down her fever here."

He nodded and looked over to their other company. "Come on," he told them. Neji and Sasuke walked over and stood next to Gaara. The sand around them picked up quickly and before they realized what was happening, they were back at the gates of Konoha.

Naruto rushed towards them then. "Tenten has already taken Satomi to the hospital, where Tsunade-baa-chan and Shizune are taking care of her. They've already got a bed prepared for Natsumi."

"Thank you Naruto." Sakura said, following Gaara to the hospital. Neji began to follow, but turned when he realized that the Uchiha wasn't following. "Are you coming?" he asked.

"No." Sasuke replied, glancing at the Hyuuga from the corner of his eye. "I'm going to go get the children. They will want to be there when the twins wake up."

"Good idea." Neji said, turning to go to the hospital.

* * *

Akito stood at attention when he felt his father enter the garden. Minako lifted her head up from its spot on Toshiro's shoulder. "Sasuke-san?" she asked softly.

"Come with me. Your sisters are in the hospital." Sasuke said, looking straight at Toshiro.

He was up in an instant, making Minako fall over a bit from lack of balance. He ran past the older Uchiha and then stopped, reversing and bowing in gratitude. "Thank you very much Sasuke." And then he was gone, nothing but sand left on the ground.

Sasuke picked up Minako and Akito. Using his speed, they were at the hospital in an instant.

* * *

The minute Gaara and Sakura entered the hospital they went straight back to the operating room. Handing her daughter over to Tsunade, she turned and kissed Gaara on the cheek. "I'll come get you when we're done." She said.

He nodded slowly, reluctant to leave his daughters. Sakura disappeared behind closed doors and Gaara went out to the waiting room, where Tenten was sitting patiently. The door flew open and Toshiro ran in. "Dad!" he yelled, wrapping his arms around his father's waist.

"Toshiro," he smiled, picking up his son with a bit of difficulty since he was getting big. "Are you alright? I'm sorry, your mother and I had to leave quickly."

"It's alright dad, at least you got Satomi and Natsumi back. That's all that matters."

Sasuke appeared then, and sat Minako and Akito down. Minako ran straight for Neji. "Uncle Neji!" she cried, gripping his leg. "Are they okay?" she asked, looking up to him with worry.

Neji set his hand on top of his niece's head and gave her a tender smile. "I'm sure they will be fine Minako, Sakura is an excellent medic."

Gaara set Toshiro down then and turned to the Hyuuga. "Thank you Neji…for coming with me to save my daughters." He gave him a small bow and then kneeled down in front of Minako. "Forgive me Minako, I didn't mean to scare you or hurt your feelings the other day."

Cerulean eyes widened in surprise. "It's okay Gaara-sama, you had been through a traumatic experience already, and my mistake didn't make it any better. I promise not to do something so foolish ever again." She said softly. Neji looked down at his niece, startled. She really did surprise him with her moments of wisdom.

Gaara nodded and smiled, patting her head, and then standing. "Well hopefully it will be soon and we can all see them."

"Yeah." Toshiro nodded and then smiled. "I'm sure Akito wants to see Natsumi really bad."

"So." The young Uchiha said, crossing his arms and looking away, hiding his blush from his father.

"Akito." Sasuke said, causing his son to turn and face him. "Come home when you are done here." he said, turning to leave. Hospitals made him uncomfortable, and he felt out of place among all of Sakura's friends and family.

"Yes father." Akito said, grateful to his dad for understanding his need to stay. He went over and sat in a chair, swinging his legs back and forth nervously.

It was a while later when Sakura finally came out into the waiting room. "Well they are both fine, Satomi is awake. Natsumi is still fast asleep but she'll be alright. Her fever is down and all her injuries are healed." The group immediately got up and headed into the hall. They stopped at two doors, each labeled with one of the girls' names. Toshiro tugged on his mother's shirt and cleared his throat. She leaned down and he whispered something into her ear. She blinked and glanced over at Akito. "Well then," she straightened up. "Why don't we all_ check_ on Satomi first?"

Gaara gave her an odd glance and noticed Sakura give Akito a little shove towards Natsumi's room. "Come on now!" she laughed, pushing Gaara forward and through the other door with the others.

Akito opened the door to Natsumi's room slowly. Shutting the door quietly, he walked over to the bed and looked at the sleeping girl. She looked so tired, but peaceful at the same time. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly. "Natsumi…please wake up." He whispered, laying his head on the bed next to her.

A small giggle escaped her lips, "If I'm not asleep I can't dream about you." She opened one of her eyes and peeked at him. She sounded exhausted, but at least she was smiling.

He sat up quickly and gave her a light glare. Then his gaze turned to one of wonder. "You…dream about me?" he asked, cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

She blinked then, a bit wide eyed. Her cheeks went a dark red. "Um…" she was flustered now. "It's nothing, just forget about it."

He gave her a devilish smile and leaned closer to her. "I highly doubt it's nothing if you're blushing about it."

"It's really nothing," she promised, unable to get rid of the heat emitting from her cheeks.

He sat back and crossed his arms, smirking the infamous Uchiha smirk. "Whatever. Your family is next door checking on Satomi. I'm sure they'll be here soon."

"And yet you chose to come in here." She pointed out, a smirk of her own playing across her face.

"Well…the room was too small for everybody…and I don't like crowds." He said, turning his head away to hide his blush.

She simply laughed, "Well I guess then when they come in here you can go see Satomi." She watched him carefully, wondering what his reaction would be.

He turned back to her, the glare back on his face. "I don't need to go see Satomi. I already know she's okay. You were the one who was unconscious." He said defensively.

"So…why did you come in here alone?" she wondered, ignoring his glare.

"Because everyone else went to see Satomi." He said, wondering why he had to repeat himself.

Her smile fell from her face instantly, "And that's the only reason?"

A pained look flashed through his eyes at her words. She was going to make him say it wasn't she? He sighed, figuring that after everything she went through, he might as well tell her. Just this once. "Of course not." He said, softening his tone.

Her smile returned instantly, "Then why?" she giggled. She had managed to get this far so why not try for a home run?

"I was worried okay?! Are you happy now?" he asked, dropping his arms.

"Yes." She said simply, reaching over and grabbing his hand with hers.

He stuck his tongue out at her childishly, smiling when he had caused her to giggle. He was glad that she was okay.

"I'm sorry." She suddenly said, looking down now.

"For what?" he asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"For making you worry."

"You shouldn't be, it wasn't your fault." He said softly, laying his other hand over their joined ones.

She shrugged, "I could have been stronger…or faster so I wouldn't get taken." She couldn't meet his gaze now. If she were her brother, she would have been able to stop them.

His brow scrunched in anger. "Stop blaming yourself. It is perfectly understandable that a little girl your age wouldn't be able to fight off all those men. Next time I will be there to protect you." He said with determination.

Her blush darkened into a blood red. "Do you promise?" she whispered, her grip on his hand tightening.

"Yes, even if it costs me my life, I promise to protect you Natsumi. Always." He said, squeezing her hand back in return.

Suddenly the door opened and Akito slipped his hand from her grip. Gaara came in first, sending an unwelcome glare at the boy who was trying desperately to hide his blush. "What's going on in here?" he asked, crossing his arms and then looking at his daughter.

Minako and Toshiro pushed past him then and ran towards the bed. "Natsumi-chan you're awake!" Minako exclaimed, hopping up onto the bed with her friend.

Natsumi wrapped her arms around Minako and smiled brightly, "I'm so glad to see you Minako and I'm glad you're not hurt. I didn't know what had happened to you."

Toshiro smiled at his livelier sister, glad she was awake and feeling better. He stopped by Akito and gave him a bit of a nudge. "So…huh? What happened?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. She woke up, I told her you were in the other room, and that's it. End of story." The ebony haired boy said, crossing his arms in defense and glaring at his friend.

"Alright, alight." The redhead snickered, nudging him once more. "So you didn't hold her hand?" he arched a brow, trying his best not to laugh too loudly.

"Shut up." He said, hitting Toshiro on the arm. They both laughed then, punching each other back and forth. Gaara's glare was still set on the young Uchiha.

Sakura placed her hand on her husband's shoulder. "Children Gaara, they're just children." She reminded him with a smile.

"They are not just children Sakura…they're _boys_…" he seethed.

"Yeah, _little_ boys that only care about fighting and stuff. They're too young to even be interested in girls. At this age they still believe in cooties."

Gaara rolled his eyes and left his wife at the door. He went over to the bed and smiled down at his daughter. "Are you ok Natsumi? When would you like to go home?"

"As soon as possible!" she exclaimed happily.

Naruto and Hinata walked in. "How is the little princess doing?" the blonde Hokage asked, smiling at Natsumi.

"Good!" Natsumi smiled brightly at the Hokage, and then turned to Akito, sticking her tongue out at him. She gave him a small wink before smiling again, "See. Told you I'm a princess." She said smugly.

"Whatever. You'll always be a squirt in my book." He said with a smirk.

Naruto pulled out a white stuffed bunny and handed it to Natsumi. "Here, I thought you might want a souvenir and stuff…and Minako mentioned that you liked stuffed animals." He said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh wow!" she squealed, hugging it tightly. "Thank you so much Uncle Naruto!"

"What did you get Satomi?" Sakura asked, raising a brow. She knew that her other daughter wasn't big on stuffed animals, and that she wouldn't accept such a gift gracefully.

"Well I tried to get her something, but she didn't want it. So I patted her on the head." He said with a goofy grin.

"I'm surprised she didn't punch you through the wall." Gaara said, looking at his friend.

"Hehe, well after all my years of dealing with Sakura-chan, I've kinda learned to be a bit quicker. And since she can't get out of her bed or anything, I'm safe." He said, shrinking away from the threatening look Sakura was giving him.

Gaara placed his hand on Sakura's shoulder and pulled her against him, "No need to get so fussy baby…you know your violence turns me on." He smirked deviously, kissing her neck and then just below her ear.

"You sick bastard." Naruto said, looking as if he was about to throw up.

The redhead flashed his friend a glare before continuing his antics and moving up to Sakura's face and then her lips. "It's not my fault I'm so twisted."

She kissed him then, missing his touch over the few days they had been apart. "Ew." Minako said, turning away, a light blush on her cheeks. Her parents usually didn't do stuff like that in front of her.

Natsumi laughed and looked at Minako, "What's so ew? Don't your parents ever kiss?"

"Yeah," Toshiro said as well. "This is their toned down behavior."

"Well they do, but not in front of me. My mommy is shy." Minako explained.

"That's because your mommy isn't a sex addict." Naruto said.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed softly, hitting him on the arm.

He turned to her. "What?! It's true!" he said, throwing his arms in the air, as if to prove his point.

"It's really okay Hinata," Gaara said simply. "It is true, isn't that right Sakura?" he asked his lovely wife, bringing her closer once more. Their noses pressed together and she nuzzled her husband back.

"You got that right sweetie, but who wouldn't be addicted to this?" she asked, more to him than Naruto, because she could care less what the blonde thought. She wrapped her arms around Gaara's neck and kissed him once more. "Mmm, I love you."

"I love you too," he whispered sensually into her ear, before beginning to nibble on her lobe.

"Oh my God! There are children here for Pete's sake! Can you not wait until later?!" Naruto yelled.

The Kazekage shook his head, "Nope. I can't wait." He said simply. "Toshiro watch your sisters and go play for the next couple hours. Your mom and I are going to go have some waffles." And without another word the two were gone in a swirl of sand. Toshiro sighed, not really caring. He knew what waffles really meant.

"Well I guess I could-"

"I want to go to Akito's!" Natsumi yelled before her brother could even finish. "We could play house. And be the mommy and daddy!"

Akito looked at her, horror written all over his face. "Or Toshiro and I could play horse." He said, giving his friend a meaningful look.

The sweet look turned into a glare. "Fine! If you want to play with stupid Toshiro I don't care!" she huffed and looked at Minako. "Come on Minako, let's go." She pulled on the girl's hand and got out of bed, before changing quickly in the bathroom.

"I don't even care." Natsumi said, refusing to look at either of the boys. Then she left the room, dragging Minako behind her.

"Girls are so weird." Akito said getting out of his chair and walking towards the door.

"I know," Toshiro sighed and followed his friend out, leaving Naruto and Hinata alone.

The blonde looked around and blinked, "We didn't even get to tell Gaara and Sakura about the funeral."

"We can tell them later. Let's just let them enjoy themselves for now." Hinata said, watching the children leave.

Naruto gave her a devilish grin. "Well you know…the house will be empty for a few hours while the kids are playing…" he trailed off, knowing that she would understand his hidden meaning.

The fact that she turned red at his comment was proof enough. "W-well I did have a few things that needed to be done…l-like the laundry, and stuff…" Hinata said looking off in embarrassment.

"Well…I know something else you could do…" he whispered huskily in her ear, before pulling her too him and disappearing in a yellow flash. He would wait until he and Hinata finished their business before looking for his friends to tell them the news.


	12. Funeral

**Quake**

_Chapter Twelve_

-Funeral-

Sakura let out a sigh of contentment as she snuggled closer to the source of warmth next to her. She opened her eyes then, and looked into the face of her sleeping husband. Sadness entered her eyes, as she thought about their unborn son. Would he have looked like Gaara? Would he have had her eyes? What would he have been like?

She wiped away the tears that had started to form, not wanting to wake him with her blubbering. It wouldn't do to dwell on things that would never be, it wasn't healthy. So she reached up and brushed his bangs out of his face, stroking his cheek tenderly as she finished.

"Good morning my love," he said with his eyes still closed. He leaned into her touch, unable to remember a time when he had woken up without her now. Finally he stared over at her and his peaceful demeanor fell. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she smiled sadly, "I was just thinking about our son."

He seemed to understand and brought her close to his chest. "What I've been thinking about is…if he had to be taken away…it must've been for a reason. Maybe something would have gone wrong with the birth or something like that and fate was sparing him." He told her lovingly, but she could tell he was still sad about the whole thing.

She snuggled into him, wrapping her arms around his midsection. "I never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. I just wish…" she said, unable to continue.

"I know, I know." He answered her thoughts, burying his face in her hair. The door creaked open slowly and three pairs of green eyes peered in. Both Gaara and Sakura looked over towards the door to see their children.

"Mommy. Daddy." They all said in unison.

"Can we come in?" Toshiro asked for the group.

Gaara sat up a bit and gestured them over. The door opened wider and the three rushed to their parent's bed. The twins crawled in beside Gaara and Toshiro snuggled closely to his mother, with Satomi in between Natsumi and Toshiro. "What's going to happen about brother?" Natsumi asked dejectedly.

The older redhead sighed at the thought, "We'll have a funeral back home for him. So we'll probably need to leave as soon as possible."

Sakura brought her son closer to her, sad but happy to be going home. If she had lost another one of her children while they were here she didn't know what she would have done. She didn't want to think about it. "You kids need to get ready. Make sure everything is packed away neatly okay? Your father and I will go speak to Naruto to inform him of our departure." She said tenderly.

"Yes ma'am." They nodded and reluctantly pulled away from their parents. They were gone behind closed doors now, and Gaara forced himself from bed.

"Don't worry I'll take care of it, you can stay and help the kids if you want." He leaned over and kissed her forehead tenderly. He got up then and started to dress in some clean clothes. He wanted to be out of this village as soon as he could.

She got up as well and began to pull on her clothes. "If you don't mind. I don't really want to be away from them right now." She said softly, buckling her skirt.

After he had finished buckling his vest on and securing his shoes, he walked over to her and leaned down, kissing her softly. "I know you don't," he smiled, giving her one more kiss before leaving her alone in the room.

Gaara appeared right outside the Hokage Tower. He wondered if Naruto was even in this early, even though it was nearly ten o'clock. He went in and headed up towards the office and opened the door to see a diligently working Naruto. "Well if this isn't a sight for sore eyes." He laughed, giving his blonde friend a smirk.

Without looking Naruto threw a pen at his friend, who dodged it of course. "Jerk." Naruto muttered. Finishing the scroll in front of him, he put down the pen he had been using and sat back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head.

"I'm glad you came in, it saves me the trouble of looking for you." He said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

The redhead nodded and sat down in the chair that was situated in front of the desk. "Looking for me? What's wrong?" he asked, folding his hands together and settling them on his reclined stomach.

Naruto became serious then. "Nothing's wrong, but you and Sakura-chan disappeared for the rest of the day before I could tell you the news."

Gaara arched a brow and leaned forward, taking note of the aura around his friend. "What news?"

"I contacted Temari in Suna and told her about what happened. We have arranged a time for a joint funeral this afternoon before sunset. As we hold the funeral here in Konoha, so will another one be held in Suna." Naruto said, sitting up in his chair and lacing his fingers together on the desk.

Gaara slowly sat up, staring at his friend. "You did all of that?" he asked, his voice showing nothing but surprise and awe.

"It was the least I could do for you guys, after everything you'd been through. And I didn't think you and Sakura-chan would be able to handle putting the whole thing together so soon." Naruto said, concern in his voice.

"Yeah…" he trailed off and then stood. Naruto got up as well, keeping an eye on the redhead. "Naruto…thank you," he said quietly, moving around the desk and hugging his friend tightly.

Surprised, Naruto slowly brought his arms up and returned the embrace. "Don't mention it."

* * *

After Gaara returned to the hotel they had packed all their belongings except for what they would need to get ready for their departure the next day. When the elder redhead walked out, he was fidgeting with his Kage robes. Sakura looked over from straightening Toshiro's tie and smiled at her husband. "How did you ever manage without me?"

She grabbed onto his robes and smoothed them out, fixing the things she saw fit to fix. "I don't know," he admitted with a small smile.

Both the girls watched their parents, trying to make their black dresses as presentable as their father. Done fixing his robes, Sakura turned to her daughters and inspected their dresses. Once she was sure everything was in order, they left for the funeral.

When they arrived, Sakura looked around. It was the same location that the Third Hokage's funeral had been held at. They walked to the front and stood, waiting for the other villagers to arrive. Shortly after everyone quieted down and Naruto walked up to the podium, dressed in his Kage robes as well.

"Today we are here to honor a life that never got the chance to live." The blonde began solemnly. He took a deep breath and continued.

"Many times in the life of a shinobi, things happen for reasons we don't understand. And maybe we were never meant to. But in my experience, out of every bad thing there comes something good. Whether it happens shortly after the bad thing, or later down the road. You just have to have faith." Naruto paused then, trying to reign in his emotions.

Sakura had begun to cry softly at her friend's words. He may be an idiot most of the time, but when he put his mind to it he was an amazing leader. Gaara placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly and then looked down at his downcast children. Minako stood by Toshiro, hugging his arm and leaning her head on his shoulder. He seemed at ease from the contact she was giving him, because he leaned his head on hers, letting a few tears slid down his face.

Akito stood in front of his father and next to Natsumi. Seeing what her dad had done to comfort her mom, he placed his hand on her shoulder as well, not really sure if it would help her or not. She blinked and looked over at him, a small smile forming on her sad face. She leaned into his embrace and then looked ahead again as the villagers came forward, placing white lilies on the table beside them.

After the villagers finished, Akito and Minako went forward with their parents and added their lilies to the table, leaving the Sabaku family for last. Once everyone was back in their place Naruto continued.

"As we mourn this loss, so does our friend and ally, Suna. As we speak, they are holding a candlelight funeral at the only source of water the village has." That said, Naruto walked over and placed his lily on the table. "So let us not look at this with a heavy heart, knowing that we lost a child, but with hope, knowing that someday, we will see him again."

The funeral ended then and the villagers dispersed, some giving their regards to the Kazekage and his family. Neji and Tenten came up and bowed with respect to the family. "We're glad you could get the twins back," Tenten smiled at her friends. "And I just want to say thank you Sakura, because just as Naruto said, good things will come." She set her hand on her stomach and smiled.

"Yes," Neji nodded, a small smile forming on his face. "Thank you."

Sakura returned their smiles, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm just glad I could help."

They both waved goodbye and left just as Lee and Choji came up to pay their respects. "We hope you guys have a safe journey home." Choji nodded, "Tell Ino and Shikamaru I said hello."

Lee simply waved enthusiastically as the larger man dragged him away. Gaara looked over at Sakura and then his exhausted children. "We should probably go and get a good night's sleep. We have a long trip ahead of us."

They waved everyone goodbye and went back to the hotel in silence. It wasn't a bad silence, but it was needed to finally let go.


	13. Parting

**Quake**

_Chapter Thirteen_

-Parting-

"Does everyone have everything?" Sakura asked her children mostly, looking at their bags. She walked away from them and into the rooms, making sure they had left nothing behind. When she returned she smiled and nodded. "Looks like that's everything." She said, hoisting her backpack on.

The girls mimicked her actions, as did Toshiro. "Well come on," Gaara said, leaving through the door and waiting for the rest of them to exit. He closed the double doors and locked them, giving the key to the manager as they left. "I'm so glad to be going home." He sighed.

"Me too," Satomi huffed, "I hate this place."

"I kinda like it, it's so green everywhere!" Natsumi laughed, a bright smile plastered on her face.

Toshiro rolled his eyes, "You just like it cause' Akito lives here."

Her blissful expression was replaced with red embarrassment. "I do not!"

"Do so."

"Do not!"

"Do so!"

"Do not!" Natsumi screamed, her sand lashing out at her brother, causing his to react in the same manner.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gaara glared, grabbing the two by their collars before they could rip each other to shreds. Their sand had ceased due to his presence and the fact that he was suppressing it. "You both need to calm down."

Sakura watched the whole thing and gave Gaara a meaningful look. "They take after you." She said, walking past him to the door. Placing a hand on Satomi's back, the two began to walk towards the village gates.

The redhead glared after her, dragging the two behind him. "Only with their abilities they are like me, if you hadn't noticed they have your personality you psycho!" he yelled after her.

She halted and turned back to him slowly. "At least I can keep my psychotic tendencies under control. If you haven't noticed, you are causing a scene with your childish behavior." She replied, turning and continuing to walk away from him.

"Only because you left me to deal with your spawn." He retorted. "No wonder they see fit to pointlessly fight with one another. They take after you in more than one way."

"My spawn?!" she yelled, turning to face him again, and angry look on her face. "They are just as much your spawn as they are mine. That's why they continue their pointless arguments, because they take after you." She said, pointing at him accusingly.

Gaara released the two and walked up to his wife, who had her hands set on her hips. A clear sign of a challenge. "Is that so?" he arched what could be a brow, having to look down at her since he had the height advantage. "Maybe so. But _you're_ the instigator." He smirked, flicking her nose.

Just before Sakura could lunge at her husband, they heard a high pitched yell. "Akito!" Natsumi yelled, running past everyone to greet her friend and his father, who were waiting at the gate with Naruto, Hinata, and Minako.

Both Sakura and Gaara looked away from one another, a light blush on their faces. "We'll settle this when we get back home." He informed her, a smirk playing across his face. He knew how their fights always ended.

Natsumi latched onto Akito in a fierce hug. "I'm going to miss you Akito!"

Said Uchiha blushed at her admission. He wrapped his arms around her and returned her embrace. "I'll miss you too squirt." He said, ruffling her hair.

Minako ran up to Toshiro and hugged him tightly. "Will you miss me Shiro-kun?" she asked, wide blue eyes looking into surprised green.

"Um, of course." He laughed a bit awkwardly. But he just wasn't used to this kind of physical contact from anyone besides his family. "But we'll see each other again, I'm sure." He nodded, patting her back in an awkward hug.

Akito broke out of Natsumi's embrace and looked at the ground in embarrassment. Before she could ask what was wrong he shoved a box in her face. "Here. I thought you might want to learn how to use these…in case you can't use your sand or something…" he trailed off, not sure how his gift would be received.

She blinked and opened the box slowly, going wide eyed. "Akito! I love them!" she shut it tightly and hugged him again. "Next time we meet I'll show you how much I've practiced okay?" she smiled.

"What is it?" Satomi asked.

Natsumi turned to her sister and opened the box to reveal a beautiful set of kunai with the kanji for her name engraved into every one.

"Alright, alight." Gaara rolled his eyes. "Let's go, I have lots of work to do." He gestured and started for the gate.

Hinata walked up to Sakura, a small smile on her face. "I hope you can come back soon Sakura." She said quietly. "Our newborns will need to meet."

Sakura gave Hinata a look of surprise and then placed her hand on her stomach. She gasped when she felt the faint chakra being emitted from her abdomen. "Hinata, you could sense it?" she asked, looking back up at her friend.

"Of course. Like I said, the Hyuuga are especially gifted with chakra detection and control. So, when are you going to tell him?" she asked, leaning closer to Sakura so that nobody would overhear their conversation.

"When we get home I suppose. I want it to be a surprise." Sakura whispered back, and then she put her hand to Hinata's stomach. "Do you want to know what it is?" Sakura asked, since the baby was developed enough for her to be able to tell.

The Hyuuga shook her head negatively. "I want it to be a surprise if you don't mind. Naruto-kun and I like not knowing until the baby is born.'

"I understand. Thank you Hinata, you don't know how happy you've made me." Sakura said, hugging her friend. Then she pulled away and walked over to Naruto.

"Promise you won't wait so long to visit us again Sakura-chan! Now that our children have met, we would only be denying them!" Naruto wailed, picking her up in a fierce hug.

"I promise Naruto! Geez!" she replied smiling. He let her down and she walked towards the gates.

"Bye everyone!" Sakura waved and followed her husband, with Satomi right after her. Toshiro gave Minako a quick hug and then pounded fists with Akito before following his family.

"See you next time man," he smiled and then ran off.

Natsumi hugged Minako and giggled, looking back over at Akito. She ran over and hesitated, "Thank you Akito, I really love them." She nodded and then leaned forward, kissing his cheek and running off right after. "Bye!" she waved to them all, her dark red blush visible even in the distance.

Akito stood there dumbly, placing his hand over the spot where she had kissed him. Girls were so weird sometimes. Minako just waved at her friends, completely oblivious.

* * *

Three days later the family arrived at their home. They weren't disturbed by the villagers, because Temari knew that they would want to be left alone for a while. After putting their exhausted children to bed, Sakura made her way to hers and Gaara's bedroom. He was saying goodnight to the kids, so she took a quick shower and put on her favorite black tank top and shorts.

Coming out of the bathroom drying her hair, she walked over to him and kissed him lightly. "I'm glad to be home." She said sincerely.

"Me too." He said, reaching up and stroking her cheek, a tender smile on his face. "I'm going to go get a shower." He told her, walking towards the bathroom and shutting the door.

While he was gone, Sakura discarded her wet towel and began to pace the room. How would she tell him? She could do it the ways that she had before, but this time it was special. She didn't expect to get pregnant ever again, let alone so soon. And it was a girl, she could tell by the chakra.

She placed her hand on her stomach and walked over to the window, looking out over her village. However she told him, it would be tonight. The bathroom door opened then, revealing a freshly cleaned Gaara in his sleeping trousers. He walked over to her and kissed her lightly.

"So…where were we before we left Konoha?" he asked, a playful smirk on his face.

Instead of going along with him, she stepped back out of his embrace. He looked at her in confusion. Keeping eye contact with him, she wordlessly grabbed his right hand and placed it over her abdomen. She gave him a soft smile. "It's a girl."

He went wide-eyed, a smile playing across his face. "So soon?" he looked up at her, a bit shocked.

"Yeah. I guess Naruto was right when he said that good things often come from bad ones." She said.

"Another girl though?" he sighed. "Satomi and Natsumi are already so much."

She chuckled. "Well maybe this one will be different."

"I seriously doubt we're going to get a well behaved, quiet, and respectful daughter." He said rolling his eyes. "You are her mother after all." He smirked evilly, kissing her neck then.

She punched him in the shoulder lightly. "Yeah, and with you as her father, there's no way she will respect other people, especially if she doesn't like them." She said with a smile, running her fingers through his hair and pressing against him.

"Well, I guess we will just have to find out." He snickered, dragging her to their bed as his sand pulled the curtains closed to both the balcony and the canopy.

"Naruto and Hinata are having a boy you know." She said, looking up at him as she lay down.

He let out a loud groan. She just kept killing the moment. "Sakura, come on another plan? Why can't you just let things play out?" he asked, rolling off her and laying on his back.

She sat up and looked down at him, a pout on her lips. "I will let things play out. But this is just meant to be. Trust me on this, I'm never wrong when it comes to these things." She said, tracing a pattern on his chest.

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, letting her continue her antics. He was tired and slowly his eyes closed, her soft caress sending him off to sleep.

She huffed, seeing that she wasn't going to get to have her way with him if he was just going to go to sleep. She stopped what she was doing and settled herself next to him, "Fine, night meanie." She smiled, resting her head on his chest. He smirked and placed his arm around her waist, pressing her against him.

"Night my queen."

"Goodnight my king." She sighed, snuggling into his warmth. She didn't know what this new baby would bring, but there was one thing she was certain of. No matter what life threw their way, her family would stay as one, always.

**THE END**

**COMING SOON:**

**AFTERSHOCK**

The unsettling sequel to Quake. As the dust finally clears in their lives, Suna is hit with an aftershock full of confusion, betrayal, and love.


End file.
